Have managed with old-fashioned broadband but suspect provider is turning down the tap to persuade me onto fibre. Fine but they say that I can’t keep my landline. That means that everyone who wants to call me are forced to pay mobile phone charges - or am I missing something?
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Techphobe needs help
- Thread starter Squiddley1957
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I didn't know that landlines still existed :O
But isn't cell phone calls included in all monthly plans as here in Sweden? I pay approx $35-45 / mo and it's the mobile data I pay for. Everything else is included (calls & texts)
Where do You live?
I live in the UK. My point is that not everyone has a cell phone and even fewer have unlimited calls (me included).
But why don't you get an unlimited call/text plan? The calls won't cost you anything extra. I think there are plans from around $10 / mo
Do you have (mobile) coverage in the area you live?
You’re missing the point. It’s not about me calling out; it’s about people calling in. If they call my mobile from their landline their costs are so much higher.
Ah, okay. Didn't see that point of view. But, why can't they also get a similar mobile plan? Perhaps it's cheaper?
Well, as I see it, they just have to adjust. It's 2021.
Or You can move to another place that have both landline and fibre?
We live in a rural area where 3g is consudered a marvel. My phone is currently flickering between no bars and one. Yeah it’s 2021. I guess the advice is to move to London?
My 80 year old father in law in Belgium is in the process of cancelling his landline, something he's had for the last 60 odd years. He says few people ever call him on it, instead mostly on his mobile and Whatsapp. My argument for not having a landline myself is why should I pay some €20/month for a line so that others can call me cheaper? And if I make any outgoing calls those are over and above the €20. If you want to call me bad enough, you'll find the money to call me on my mobile.
Now when it comes to an area with little to no cell signal but decent cable/fibre internet, I'm sure the UK has VoIP phone providers. In other words, you get a land line number with land line rates, it just works over internet protocol. But again, you will almost always pay a fixed fee just for having it whether you use it or not.
I know in places like South Africa (where I was born), if you have a geographic land line number from Telkom, you can port it over to a VoIP provider. I would like to think you can do the same almost anywhere else. What I also know about South African phone numbers is no one like Telkom actually owns them, they are licensed out to them by The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. (ICASA) Again, I would like to think you can port numbers in the UK too. So I would check around before you believe someone who says you can't keep your number. I have ported mobile numbers between many networks in both South Africa and Belgium.
And no, I don't think your current provider is deliberately turning down the tap on your current connection. Older twisted pair and coax copper cable systems are just not able to carry the load of internet traffic these days. With fibre, every connection has its own dedicated line direct to the host node, whereas with coax, you share the same line with everyone else in your street or suburb. At least you can't see each others traffic, but think of it like a freeway shared by lots of private cars. Fibre anywhere is almost always unthrottled, unmetered and ununcapped, with a choice of speeds. Here in Belgium we can get 1Gbps uncapped for €45/month. However, we are still with coax for now because it still works for our needs, and I'm still waiting for better fibre deals. But get fibre if you can, you won't be sorry.
Now when it comes to an area with little to no cell signal but decent cable/fibre internet, I'm sure the UK has VoIP phone providers. In other words, you get a land line number with land line rates, it just works over internet protocol. But again, you will almost always pay a fixed fee just for having it whether you use it or not.
I know in places like South Africa (where I was born), if you have a geographic land line number from Telkom, you can port it over to a VoIP provider. I would like to think you can do the same almost anywhere else. What I also know about South African phone numbers is no one like Telkom actually owns them, they are licensed out to them by The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. (ICASA) Again, I would like to think you can port numbers in the UK too. So I would check around before you believe someone who says you can't keep your number. I have ported mobile numbers between many networks in both South Africa and Belgium.
And no, I don't think your current provider is deliberately turning down the tap on your current connection. Older twisted pair and coax copper cable systems are just not able to carry the load of internet traffic these days. With fibre, every connection has its own dedicated line direct to the host node, whereas with coax, you share the same line with everyone else in your street or suburb. At least you can't see each others traffic, but think of it like a freeway shared by lots of private cars. Fibre anywhere is almost always unthrottled, unmetered and ununcapped, with a choice of speeds. Here in Belgium we can get 1Gbps uncapped for €45/month. However, we are still with coax for now because it still works for our needs, and I'm still waiting for better fibre deals. But get fibre if you can, you won't be sorry.
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Things must be different outside of the US?
Here, it does not matter whether you use a landline or not to call a cellphone. Neither you nor the caller pay any more or any less than what you are paying for your cell service or they are paying for the landline. Phone service is phone service. Americans would be up in arms if they were charged more for using one or the other to call a landline or a cell phone.
That said, we ditched our landline some time in 2004 because it was an extra $50 a month for something we didn't use. But speaking of that, our ISP (Internet Service Provider) provides us with a digital VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone line. I've never used it and I only have it because it was necessary to get the discount I am currently receiving for internet and cable TV.
Here, it does not matter whether you use a landline or not to call a cellphone. Neither you nor the caller pay any more or any less than what you are paying for your cell service or they are paying for the landline. Phone service is phone service. Americans would be up in arms if they were charged more for using one or the other to call a landline or a cell phone.
That said, we ditched our landline some time in 2004 because it was an extra $50 a month for something we didn't use. But speaking of that, our ISP (Internet Service Provider) provides us with a digital VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone line. I've never used it and I only have it because it was necessary to get the discount I am currently receiving for internet and cable TV.
Correct, they are very different, but not necessarily better or worse. If you shop around anywhere in the world, talk is very cheap these days. In Africa and Europe all incoming calls on a pre paid mobile are free while in your home country, except in the European Union where there are no more roaming charges for EU phones anywhere within the EU. Basically, you can receive a call on your pre paid African or EU cell phone from anywhere in the world for free, literally. You only load call credit for outgoing calls which in my case is valid for 12 months. I use maybe €3/month for calling and data. Not so in the USA or Canada where you get charged per minute to receive, and more so depending on where the call is coming from and what type of plan you have. In Belgium you can get unlimited data and mobile calling to any EU number, mobile or landline for €29/month. Also in African and Europe you can tell the difference between a mobile and landline number and rates do differ. But if you are in Ft Lauderdale USA you can call any 954 number from any local phone for free, and you don't know if it's a landline or mobile that you're calling, or something to that effect.
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Of course, I have no idea what they are really offering in your country. However, here in the US, Verizon has done the same thing when upgrading customers to fiber (FIOS). This has no impact on your regular phone service, they have merely replaced the copper wiring with a fiber connection for landline calls, which is called "Voice Over Internet Protocol" or VOIP.
From a customer standpoint, this is a complete non-issue. Outside the house, they remove the copper wiring and connect your existing indoor copper wiring to a digital interface. So, all your old landline phones remain connected to existing jacks and continue to work - no changes whatsoever are required on your part. If somebody installed this while you were away, you wouldn't even know anything had changed. It has no impact on people who are calling you.
Again, I don't know if that's the case with you however I suspect that it is.
I have no idea why they would have told you that.
I suspect there is a misunderstanding going on.
In the UK there are two type of fibre connections: Fibre to the cabinet and Fibre to the home.
Full Fibre to the home is still quite rare in the UK and it is only supplied as an expensive option to very few (mainly urban) locations.
Fibre to the cabinet (and traditional copper to the house) is the most common form of Fibre connection giving up to 65GB bandwidth. Using this option you would be required to keep a traditional landline connection.
Other uncommon connections are from cable suppliers such as Virgin and the like. But these too are usually limited to urban location. In any case, these too will offer you a traditional landline telephone to go over their connection.
Who is your supplier?
I really believe there is a misunderstanding. I would suggest you ask again and if you are not getting anywhere just ask another supplier (your landline number can be transferred easily).