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AT&T Readying For the End of Analog Landlines

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-was-ready-years-ago dept.

nottheusualsuspect writes "AT&T, in response to a Notice of Inquiry released by the FCC to explore how to transition to a purely IP-based communications network, has declared that it's time to cut the cord. AT&T told the FCC that the death of landlines is a matter of when, not if, and asked that a firm deadline be set for pulling the plug. In the article, broadband internet and cellular access are considered to be available to everyone, though many Americans are still without decent internet access."

2 of 426 comments (clear)

  1. No Landlines? Hah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    There still is nothing as reliable as a plain regular analog telephone line, as engineered by the fine people who used to work at AT&T.

    Even though I love my blackberry, I'm going to keep my POTS line for a very long time. My POTS line has worked flawlessly from the day it was installed for over 10 years.

    I love this line from the article: "It makes no sense to require service providers to operate and maintain two distinct networks when technology and consumer preferences have made one of them increasingly obsolete."

    Lies. The analog portion of the phone system is only in the last mile. The backend of the phone system has been digital for a very long time, and it is ALREADY common to see IP-based backhaul with QOS.

  2. Re:VOIP sucks. by bill_beeman · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, a very large number of us. Since the entity now called AT&T acquired Pacific Bell, extension of broadband to rural areas has ground to a halt, their public relations comments notwithstanding.

    There's no cell service at my location, no terrestrial IP provider, leaving me with satellite. Given the high latency and bandwidth caps it's not a real substitute. I'd cheerfully abandon POTS, but we're screwed if we do. VOIP over satellite doesn't work. Comcast came through the neighborhood a couple of years ago, putting brackets on the line poles, but abandoned the project as soon as AT&T quit talking about expanding DSL.

    I'm hardly in the back of beyond...just a few miles from Grass Valley in California, and my situation is not unusual.

    So yes, the answer is that real, usable IP is out of reach for many of us.