Comments on: Ma Bell and Its Vanishing Phone Lines

By: philip reeves

philip reeves — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:49:03 +0000

they want spend the money . the technicians know how to fix the problem but thier number crunches don't want to provide true customer service. allowing true technicians to correct the problem would cost them their dignity knowing the technicians are right. power corrupts their commen sense.

By: Doug Mohney

Doug Mohney — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:56:01 +0000

Om, I can’t believe you’d want AT&T U-Verse after the flaming you gave the wireless side of the house.

Do you think AT&T is going to do any better delivering broadband? Be careful what you wish for.

And there’s also the not-so-little matter of bandwidth metering — something that Verizon has (so far) stayed away from.

By: Subhankar Ray

Subhankar Ray — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:44:14 +0000

Here is my 2 cents..
Landline is a must if one cares about the reliability of your security system. Also businesses talking over VOIP lines to their customers sometimes are not very professional sounding. Also carrying a microwave in the ear may not be always a good idea.

By: Parkite

Parkite — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:03:17 +0000

Yes, people hate their cable companies. But is ATT (or VZ or Q) any more likeable?

By: Duane

Duane — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:41:44 +0000

Sure uverse is great as an alternative to your cable company, but what are they going to do in a couple years when vdsl can’t keep up with cable and fiber? At least Verizon is totally embracing the move away from wireline phone service. They offer bundle discounts with just fios Internet and tv and when bundled with wireless service.

By: Bernie

Bernie — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:32:45 +0000

It's not unique to just Ma Bell. We just recently did a study comparing rural to urban for both broadband and access lines. A trend to watch is, starting in 4Q08, line loss began to stabilize, but it's too early to see if that trend will continue. Another trend to watch is the move by incumbents to IP Voice. Early indications from AT&T and SureWest suggest an IP Voice product is helping to slow landline voice decline.

By: Tony Casson

Tony Casson — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:12:00 +0000

It feels like the phone companies and cable companies are now just both wire to the home companies competing with different services and speeds. ATT and Verizon have an advantage over Comcast and Time Warner in that they have wireless service offerings as well. Cable has done a great job of competing with fiber with Docsis 3.0 and running fiber to the head end though. If cable continues this push, the CapEx for fiber may not be worth it to Verizon/ATT in the short term. Another thing to consider is that Verizon has been cutting copper where they put in Fios and they are the LEC. That cuts the head off potential CLEC DSL providers b/c the FCC has no rule mandating they share access over fiber yet. That alone could be worth the cost of the plant for Fios. Since I think Uverse keeps the twisted pair in place for the most part and runs fiber to the hood, and are not the LEC where Uverse is being rolled out, they do not reap the competitive advantage that Verizon does.

By: Gadget Sleuth

Gadget Sleuth — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:11:53 +0000

Better get used to it…within 50 years, I predict traditional phone lines will pretty much be extinct.

By: Nathan Gilliatt

Nathan Gilliatt — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:29:38 +0000

Reminds me of the early days of DSL, when its release status was GU–Generally Unavailable.

By: John

John — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:24:24 +0000

I have U-verse and love it! Picture is awesome, VOIP is clear (even has battery backup), internet is fast and reliable, customer service is always fast and courteous. The price is great especially when compared to Time Warner Cable packages in San Antonio, Texas. I hope you get it soon!

By: Jason Lackey

Jason Lackey — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:16:28 +0000

Om – I agree with you on the U-verse thing. When I first heard about it I was psyched, Comcast can be hard to love and I was eager to churn. Part of this is from their habit of periodically disconnecting my data service for no reason. Another part would be the fairly frequent outages and downtime, but that seems to come in waves. Seems DOCSIS 3.0 represents another wave, oh, well, every rose has its thorns. Sadly no U-verse in Mountain View in my neighborhood at last check. Maybe soon.