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Ditching your Landline Just Got Easier

QuePasaCalabaza writes "The FCC has approved a bill 5-0 that allows consumers to take their land line phone numbers and carry them over to thier wireless phones. USA Today has one of the first scoops on this ruling. The official news release [Word|PDF] is there."

13 of 358 comments (clear)

  1. one number to rule them all... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    and on vacation find me...

  2. Re:I have DSL by TheShadow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    unless I want to get into bed with the evil cable company that is

    Well, you're already in bed with the evil phone company... so what's the difference?

    Someone needs to just run fiber to everyone's house/business and put all these bozos out of business.

    --

    --
    "What do you want me to do? Whack a guy? Off a guy? Whack off a guy? Cause I'm married."
  3. No land line is great by BoomerSooner · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just as long as you don't need to use your phone during an emergency.

    Hell, I cannot get reception during home football games much less after a tornado rips through the state.

    Land line is also good for your home's alarm and tracking where a 911 call is made from.

    I guess I'm just an alarmist, but when you need to call someone, a land line is significantly more reliable than a cable phone or cell phone.

    1. Re:No land line is great by chochos · · Score: 4, Funny

      you also need a land line to get out of the Matrix, but they never explained why...

  4. Re:5-0 ? by mblase · · Score: 4, Insightful

    On a side note, does it disturb anyone else that a mere 5 people control such weighty decision affecting telecommunications?

    There are only nine people on the U.S. Supreme Court who decide whether laws governing your school, your privacy, or your right to have an abortion are constitutional or not. Get used to it.

  5. What about wireless to landline? by jdh33 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What about wanting to go back to landline service?
    I'm tired of my cell service and just want to put my wireless number on a landline. Or better yet, put my wireless number on a vonage line.

  6. Re:5-0 ? by KD5YPT · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So would you rather have 5 relatively technical savvy people making a decision, or 400+ people (the congress) who don't have the slightest idea on what TCP/IP and Ports are making the decision?

    --
    In US, you can easily buy enough major firearms to wipe out your neighbourhood but a few little fireworks are banned.
  7. Just saw by mental_telepathy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    a commerical for a new service from Cingular that would allow you to tie your cell phone to ring to your home phone when attached to a device they sell. And you don't use wireless minutes when answering at home. So, you could have the bext of both worlds.

  8. But...My TiVo. by boinger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How will TiVo know what's going on?

    You can't even record a single show without first making a telephone call on a landline. Even the DirecTiVos which get their listing from the satellite.

    Is there a way to plug a normally landline-connected device into a cell phone for the occasional call?

    --
    Send your friends messages of love at fuck-you.org
    1. Re:But...My TiVo. by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, a simple Google search finds this product, (blurb from site: "The TurboNETTM Ethernet Adapter Card allows you to hook your TiVo up to your network. This allows daily updates over broadband instead of the telephone, easier hacking, TiVoWEB, etc.") although I'm sure there are other ways to accomplish the task of avoiding the need for a phone line.

      --
      I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
  9. take my telemarketer-known number with me? by *weasel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    are you mad?!?

    one of the few things that makes sole cell ownership preferable to a landline is that the cell companies don't (or can't) sell their registries to telemarketers.

    since i've gone land-line-less ... hell i didn't even -need- the do-not-call registry.

    but if i took my landline number onto my cell service - man i'd be doubly infuriated at any telemarketing - even if it was restricted to traffic allowed by the do-not-call registry.

    (non-profits, political advocacy, and any company who has sold you products or services in the last 18 months -- all cleared to bother you as much as they want.)

    --
    // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
  10. or until by The+Tyro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    a burglar cuts your land line before hitting your house; oldest trick in the book. Cuts off the phone-home feature of most home alarm systems, particularly since the ones that do have a "cellular backup" feature charge big extra fees for that feature.

    I like always having a cell phone available. If you suspect a home burglary and find that your phone doesn't work, you'll be damned glad you have that cell, because you're facing one of two kinds of opponents.

    #1. A professional who has anticipated your alarm system.

    #2. A stalker-type who has surveiled you, knows you are home, and has plans for you.

    Either way... I'll keep my cell AND land line.

    --
    Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
  11. Brotherly love by siskbc · · Score: 4, Funny
    I live in philadelphia. I would not feel safe without a land line in the house. Two cell phones or not.

    If I lived in Philly, I wouldn't feel safe without a howitzer, an M-60, and booby-trapped windows. I'd wear kevlar to bed. I'd crouch-roll on the way to the bathroom.

    But yeah, keeping a land-line is a good start.

    --

    -Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat