[BC] POTS reliability...

[Jerry Mathis]

I think the same way. And I had a wired phone from AT&T until a couple of years ago when I could no longer afford it. The phone company has priced themselves right out of business. You can't have any meaningful and convenient telco service for less than about $75 a month when you include a LD plan. You can get cell service for that, with a lot more features. It doesn't help that States and the Feds have nickeled and dimed telco service to death with a dozen or so niggling taxes and fees, either (THANKS, Algore  :(    ).
 
Don't know if anyone else has noticed, but USA Today reports today that Century-Tel is buying Qwest. Of course, they're talking the usual "consolidations savings" by laying off employees and all that garbage, and they're also talking about improving service. We'll see how THAT works out.

--
Jerry Mathis

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 8:27 AM, Burt I. Weiner <biwa at att.net> wrote:
>I may be old fashioned, but I'm not ready to give up my copper (such
>as it's still copper) for VOIP.  Every once in a while my internot
>goes out but I still have my POTS connection to the C.O.  Well, there
>was the great wind of '92 that took down some poles, but that's what
>Ham Radio is all about.

>When the great wind of '92 took down the (telephone) poles in our
>neighborhood it pulled the wires right off the side of the house.  I
>found the wires about 200' up the street, ID'd my lines, hooked up a
>box of CAT-3 and extended it back to our protector.  It was about 4
>day's until the phone company replaced the (telephone) poles.

>Burt

>>
>>Tom Taggart wrote:
>> > They've got to be kidding??? Right???
>> >
>> > Do these clowns have any idea on how most people get broadband?
>> >
>> >
>>Well, DSL is now delivered by fiber, to the neighborhood. Then to copper
>>from neighborhood box to home.
>>
>>Neighborhood box has limited battery life, no genset. NO power = no DSL
>>= no POTS either.
>>
>>Ask folks in Houston, after IKE took conventional power away for 2 weeks
>>in some areas.