Do you remember the times when we had pay-phones and STD/ ISD and PCO booths? Those regular rectangular booths situated at every other street corner for your calling convenience? It looks like Superman and Shaktimaan will have to find a new place to change because they're quickly becoming a thing of the past (except in places like airports and freeways). If current trends continue, landline phones may soon join pay phones in the technology graveyard for scraps.
When was the last time you memorized someone's home/ landline number? Probably at least 10 years back, as more people are beginning to make the majority of their calls on cell phones. I still remember how I had purchased a landline phone at our LA apartment since our TV+Mobile package with AT&T also had the option to add a landline for free and make international calls for free as well. It sounded like a great deal until we realized that we were still students and had to cut down on things that we thought were not absolutely necessary for us to live out our student lives. In the US and Europe, roughly 75% of the respective populations are wireless subscribers with numbers even indicating that some European countries are expected to exceed 100% wireless penetration due to people purchasing multiple devices. As of late 2018, 69% of US households had no landline whatsoever, compared to just 15% in 2008. Across the country, people have been hanging up their home phones - in NY, the number of landline subscribers has fallen by 85% since 2000 - similar trends exist Down Under as well. Even businesses are ditching their wires for more economical options like WiFi, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) etc. Ford's Detroit HQ recently purchased 8000 wireless phones for the staff and ripped up their landlines - 85% of the company's business is now conducted wirelessly and it's not just major players like Ford embracing these new technologies. Sanitation distributors, electricity providers and other utility departments in the country have also been slowly abandoning landlines - except for keeping for emergencies. Most tech companies nowadays rely completely on VoIP for official communication unless it is absolutely necessary to make a phone call to a landline!
People who have made the switch cite several benefits - wireless communication saves money on local and long distance phone charges, frees people up from their desks and prevents having to lay new cables. Yet other people aren't convinced that landlines have outstayed their welcome. While VoIP, cell phones and other wireless means of communication can save your bank, landline stalwarts don't believe a switch is warranted - they argue that the cost of replacement technology can easily eclipse the savings recouped by not installing the cable in the first place. In addition, local and long distance phone charges may be cheaper but that's not always the case - making VoIP calls from overseas for instance can result in hefty charges. Security is another factor for people to consider before letting go of their landlines - landlines are end-to-end secure and public key encrypted. It's much easier for hackers to gain access to conversations on a cell phone or through VoIP than it is on a traditional phone line - some people on the front lines of communications technology think that security concerns could prevent many companies from turning entirely away from landlines.
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Interference may also be a problem - depending on the quality of the landlines replacement - while the quality of WiFi and VoIP have tremendously improved since the two technologies first came out, they're still not reliable. Some people claim crystal clear reception and say they can't differentiate between wireless and landline calls but unless you carry around a portable cell tower, you probably still encounter certain dead zones every now and then. Another issue that may prevent landline's demise is simply nostalgia - employers who do away with traditional phones often regret it when they see their workers straying farther and farther from their desks. The convenience of wireless communication can just as easily be a distraction with salespeople chatting on the phone instead of focusing on the next sale - if landlines disappear, the days of sitting at your desk to complete your day's work may just disappear. Well, at least mine doesn't coz it guarantees that I sit at my desk and either code or debug. If you push these issues aside though, the attractions of ditching landlines are hard to ignore - no more costly telephone switching stations, no more wires and fiber-optic cables stretching for miles and no more unsightly telephone poles (although, you'll still have cell phone towers as well as fiber-optics cables for faster broadband WiFi!)
If you still find yourself having separation anxiety over the possible disappearance of landline telephones, you're not alone - many people like myself are fearful of what their disappearance may really mean. Even though landlines aren't off the radar yet, some people are already starting to feel the impact of their decline - major telephone providers are among those affected by abandoned landlines, but some other unexpected groups like pollsters and politicians are feeling the effects as well. You don't have to feel that sorry for telephone companies though - major players like AT&T and Verizon get half their revenue from land-based subscribers, they won't necessarily lose those subscribers - they just convert them to wireless subscribers instead. Phone companies have now come under intense pressure and competition from cable companies like Time-Warner and Comcast who have lured customers away with their Internet-based communication offerings. Even as their landline subscribers decline, the phone companies still have to fork out billions of dollars a year to maintain the networks (there's something similar that I want to blog about in the future regarding the battle of cable/ network services versus streaming services). As phone companies puzzle over their future business model, pollsters are starting to wonder about their own ability to continue in a world without landlines. Polling organizations rely mainly on calls to landline numbers - federal law prevents calls to cell phones by the computerized systems most often used used by pollsters - so, public opinion surveys could start to see skewed results - this is especially true since the remaining landline users tend to come from a certain demographic - they're more likely to be affluent homeowners over the age of 30. Politicians too have had to alter their game since many of their constituents are young voters - who are likely to only have a cell. With cell phones, whether you're dialing or receiving the call, you pay for it in some way or the other - so this method of communication is off limits to campaign. Many political candidates have had to get creative in how they reach voters - pop up ads, blogs written by the candidate and Internet commercials and engaging in social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) are some of the newer forms of outreach.
Although cell phones and VoIP are the go-to thing currently, landlines will probably still stick around until coverage and security improves - at least one good reason to use landlines is that emergency service providers often still have difficulty locating where cell phone calls originate. So while landlines linger on for now, don't rule out having to explain what a telephone pole looks like to the future generations!
When was the last time you memorized someone's home/ landline number? Probably at least 10 years back, as more people are beginning to make the majority of their calls on cell phones. I still remember how I had purchased a landline phone at our LA apartment since our TV+Mobile package with AT&T also had the option to add a landline for free and make international calls for free as well. It sounded like a great deal until we realized that we were still students and had to cut down on things that we thought were not absolutely necessary for us to live out our student lives. In the US and Europe, roughly 75% of the respective populations are wireless subscribers with numbers even indicating that some European countries are expected to exceed 100% wireless penetration due to people purchasing multiple devices. As of late 2018, 69% of US households had no landline whatsoever, compared to just 15% in 2008. Across the country, people have been hanging up their home phones - in NY, the number of landline subscribers has fallen by 85% since 2000 - similar trends exist Down Under as well. Even businesses are ditching their wires for more economical options like WiFi, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) etc. Ford's Detroit HQ recently purchased 8000 wireless phones for the staff and ripped up their landlines - 85% of the company's business is now conducted wirelessly and it's not just major players like Ford embracing these new technologies. Sanitation distributors, electricity providers and other utility departments in the country have also been slowly abandoning landlines - except for keeping for emergencies. Most tech companies nowadays rely completely on VoIP for official communication unless it is absolutely necessary to make a phone call to a landline!
Interference may also be a problem - depending on the quality of the landlines replacement - while the quality of WiFi and VoIP have tremendously improved since the two technologies first came out, they're still not reliable. Some people claim crystal clear reception and say they can't differentiate between wireless and landline calls but unless you carry around a portable cell tower, you probably still encounter certain dead zones every now and then. Another issue that may prevent landline's demise is simply nostalgia - employers who do away with traditional phones often regret it when they see their workers straying farther and farther from their desks. The convenience of wireless communication can just as easily be a distraction with salespeople chatting on the phone instead of focusing on the next sale - if landlines disappear, the days of sitting at your desk to complete your day's work may just disappear. Well, at least mine doesn't coz it guarantees that I sit at my desk and either code or debug. If you push these issues aside though, the attractions of ditching landlines are hard to ignore - no more costly telephone switching stations, no more wires and fiber-optic cables stretching for miles and no more unsightly telephone poles (although, you'll still have cell phone towers as well as fiber-optics cables for faster broadband WiFi!)If you still find yourself having separation anxiety over the possible disappearance of landline telephones, you're not alone - many people like myself are fearful of what their disappearance may really mean. Even though landlines aren't off the radar yet, some people are already starting to feel the impact of their decline - major telephone providers are among those affected by abandoned landlines, but some other unexpected groups like pollsters and politicians are feeling the effects as well. You don't have to feel that sorry for telephone companies though - major players like AT&T and Verizon get half their revenue from land-based subscribers, they won't necessarily lose those subscribers - they just convert them to wireless subscribers instead. Phone companies have now come under intense pressure and competition from cable companies like Time-Warner and Comcast who have lured customers away with their Internet-based communication offerings. Even as their landline subscribers decline, the phone companies still have to fork out billions of dollars a year to maintain the networks (there's something similar that I want to blog about in the future regarding the battle of cable/ network services versus streaming services). As phone companies puzzle over their future business model, pollsters are starting to wonder about their own ability to continue in a world without landlines. Polling organizations rely mainly on calls to landline numbers - federal law prevents calls to cell phones by the computerized systems most often used used by pollsters - so, public opinion surveys could start to see skewed results - this is especially true since the remaining landline users tend to come from a certain demographic - they're more likely to be affluent homeowners over the age of 30. Politicians too have had to alter their game since many of their constituents are young voters - who are likely to only have a cell. With cell phones, whether you're dialing or receiving the call, you pay for it in some way or the other - so this method of communication is off limits to campaign. Many political candidates have had to get creative in how they reach voters - pop up ads, blogs written by the candidate and Internet commercials and engaging in social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) are some of the newer forms of outreach.Although cell phones and VoIP are the go-to thing currently, landlines will probably still stick around until coverage and security improves - at least one good reason to use landlines is that emergency service providers often still have difficulty locating where cell phone calls originate. So while landlines linger on for now, don't rule out having to explain what a telephone pole looks like to the future generations!
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