I’ve had quite enough of the “company line.” Thank you. Verizon is asking the FCC for permission to retire copper networks throughout its service territory in New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. This monotone sound was how users knew the phone line was working. How we test gear. What happens to customers who still only have a copper alternative? There's not enough spectrum in the world for that. And that's only if the service towers aren't damaged. There is no other option! Here are the three steps you need to take when considering moving away from copper phone lines: AT&T plans to discontinue copper landline phone service in Illinois, the latest of many states where it is doing away with the service. In 2012, after Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of the copper infrastructure in western Fire Island, N.Y., Verizon didn’t want to fix the phone lines. And would love to know as someone asked above—Has the government given up all their copper service ? January 15, 2020 After the first landline telephones arrived in New Zealand in 1881, a copper phone line network was built across the country, ultimately reaching 98 … Then, they had to plug in something to keep the phone going, which increased electrical bill. U.S. Woefully Unprepared for a Blackout Like India’s: Analysis, ISS Coolant Valve Might Force Emergency Space Walk. Copper lines are a thing from the past. While I agree that newer technology is great and it does not make good business sense to continue to spend money running what they consider an “obsolete” system … until the new fiber optics systems meet all the public’s basic requirements for service, the old system can hardly be considered “obsolete.” I feel Verizon is putting “profits” in front of “people.” Again, if I am wrong, someone please provide me with an adequate and TRUE explanation. Nothing we did had any affect on them. Since the late 1800s, shortly after the telephone was invented, landlines relied on copper to transmit sound. In the 1980s and 90s, this meant processing transactions via “dial up” on copper telephone lines. Perhaps we have that answer in language that is in each FCC request where Verizon says it “has deployed or plans to deploy fiber-to-the-premises in these areas”. Major outage today. These range from urban exchanges in New York City to exchanges scattered all over the outer suburbs of … Will Verizon build fiber to new houses, particularly those in rural areas? While many of the affected exchanges are mostly urban, many of them include rural areas that are not covered by a cable company competitor, so if customers lose Verizon service, they could find themselves with no communications alternative. This does not even take an EMP. The company intends to move people who still are served by copper over to fiber and is not waiting for the FCC notice period to make such conversions. Called Verizon made appointment to have them come and update. They were moving forward whether we did or not. Verizon has been announcing copper retirements since February 2017 and was forced to respond to intervention in some locations, but eventually refiled most retirement notices a second time. We never learn; do we? That wire makes them relatively expensive to maintain or replace, but … If they have a maintenance issue will Verizon refuse to fix it? The exact speeds offered in your ar… With a wireless home phone system, we're not talking about the cordless phones that have been around for years, with a cordless handset but a receiver that's connected to a landline. "It's a reasonable idea and I'm sure it's very popular with the under-25 set, the people that grew up with cellphones," Dellomo says. Verizon will identify 100 copper-fed building locations in New York City with a high incidence of repair visits by technicians and will replace the existing copper facilities to those locations with fiber optics. More static, more failures, more repairs. I doubt we’ll see that level of phone reliability again. However, as you already have figured out, having back-up is worthless if the fiber network isn’t working. "Basically any remedy that you can use for a cellphone during a disaster can be used for a wireless home phone as well," Dellomo says. No amount of fighting it would beat them. One Verizon supervisor told me that I could opt for copper cable service with “another copper carrier.”. Cell phones with voice quality that is often poor that you have to charge every day and can lose, leaving you with the same communications ability a person had in 1776. James LaRoy, 83, said that Verizon technicians installed the "optical network terminal," or FiOS box, in his garage one night last year. In 2010, more than 10 million businesses were using fixed-line phones; however, that number has now fallen to just 6.4 million. "You're not gonna have a frequency available for every user in the network. The last Verizon info I read on their Fios phone system listed their battery back-up as having only “UP TO” 2 – 6 hours of power. Three months on this and we’re already having an outage. iPhone and iPad: Two Devices, One Charger? I just wish we had a solution. ... Those communities that got fiber first will see the copper go away first. Are Copper Phone Lines Going Away - What's Happening | Ooma As a result, there is less expensive repair work to be done after a disaster. This is a public safety issue, not to mention that our business services are severely impacted. What do we have now? At the time they bypassed places where other utilities were buried unless the neighborhood already had empty conduit in place. Verizon is so unwilling to give more information than absolutely required. See: New York State Public Utilities Commission. It was ringing someplace else, he said. It now costs $71 plus all the fees and taxes they throw on just to have what is almost basic telephone service! By the way, Mary, this is your cousin Jimmy. New technologies such as high-speed internet connections via cable, VOIP, mobile phone networks, and fiber-optic cabling are replacing the outdated, inefficient copper phone lines of the past. I could not find “another copper carrier” which seems to be a mythical entity (like a unicorn) as there seem to be none! Having to purchase backup batteries is an additional cost. I have one phone number that follows me around. When Verizon first deployed FiOS they deployed it in a helter-skelter manner, mostly sticking to neighborhoods which had the lowest deployment cost, usually where they could overlash on aerial copper. That's a level of paranoia that I don't even want to think about.". They are in it for them and not for the customer and there is no winning against a company so big with so many pockets greased. Verizon has a monopoly on copper service, apparently. They turned service back on. AT&T U-verse, now known as AT&T internet, comes in cable and fiber-optic form. One of the major benefits of having a landline is that when the power goes out, the phone still works, ensuring urgent 911 calls reach emergency services. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! I was also told by someone at verizon that I could try to find “another copper carrier”. The Ultimate Survival Preparedness Kit for Your Car, CES 2014: A Parade of New Emergency Devices by Eton. Is that being considered by Verizon but not mentioned in these filings? Thinking of canceling Verizon landline. None, in our local area anyway, seem to be able to provide us with answers. : Verizon has given me a cutoff date for my copper landline of 10/20/2020, despite one letter (of three) from them stating that Covid19 pandemic stayed their replacement for several months. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. I believe the percentage of the population this will affect is rather significant. I didn’t take your question to ask about that. Verizon threatened to shut off service, then did so on 20/20/20, as the State of NY did not give a damn about Verizon techs tracking Covid virus house to house through my “shelter in place” at risk home, or that there had been a noticed halt to the conversion in Spring, when my area was much less of a Covid hot zone. Zero problems with the copper lines, ever. In many states the level of telephone regulation has been reduced or eliminated and I have to wonder if Verizon still sees themselves as the carrier of last resort that is required to provide telephone service upon request. What is fiber optic technology and how is it better? While Verizon says they are prepared to deploy fiber everywhere, what happens to customers until the fiber is in front of their home or business? There are ways for you to provide back up power for the ONT (the Verizon electronics on the outside of the house). If your phone rings now, bet your bottom bitcoin it’s no one you know Even when phoning was a popular pastime, rather than an invitation to a panic attack, not everyone’s call was answered. "That's just the way they think. NYS took my complaint on the basis that we are in a Covid emergency, and Verizon had stopped the changeover and notified me in one letter, then sent another letter demanding that I comply or they would shut off service on 10/20/20 and I am in an identified at risk group, but NYS told me that Verizon had the right to “migrate” my service. Copper phone and internet services could start be axed completely from some parts of New Zealand in less than two years, as fibre-to-the-home takes over, a select committee has recommended. Understandably, Verizon is feeling some pushback against its plan to forget about the old-fashioned landline. They are toothless/powerless to preserve copper cable service or prevent migration to fiber optics (FIOS), even though we are in a Covid emergency and under Governor Cuomo’s edicts to shelter in place. Still no service. Interestingly, much of the FiOS fiber network was built by overlashing fiber onto the copper wires, so the copper wires on poles are likely to remain in place for a long time to come. I wish there was a better answer for you. While new technology and legislation makes it possible for telco providers to move away from copper phone lines, the assumption that consumers can rely solely on cell phones leave some vulnerable. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Thank you for your response. And, I told Verizon that if the pandemic is as bad or worse when the date comes up, I will move the appointment forward to another date. One line was for the alarm, a few for the switchboard and one was for (don't laugh) the fax machine. (3) And the United States isn't … Verizon probably has an answer to all of these questions, but the FCC request to retire copper doesn’t force the company to get specific. And as one person pointed out, a whole load of D batteries will go in the trash regularly because of this! They forced our business to drop our reliable, good old fashioned POTS lines three months ago. Before covid, I had expected to find out what some of my neighbors are doing/thinking. The FCC process requires Verizon to notify the public about plans to retire copper and if no objections are filed in a given exchange the retirement takes place 90 days after the FCC’s release of the public notice to retire. He had called Verizon because his copper-line phone in his East Germantown brick rowhouse wasn't working properly. Landlines transmit voice and data signals by copper wire through electric pulses. For example, On 6/30/2019, our FIOS died some 15 minutes after an area-wide power outage while our backup system maintained LAN function for the next few hours. MANTOLOKING, N.J. — Robert Post misses his phone line.Post, 85, has a pacemaker that needs to be checked once a month by phone. When Sept. 11 happened, the cellphones crashed because everyone in the city had a crisis.". We pointed these things out to them, since we had a letter stating no change in costs, and went to the BBB. Large storms have knocked power out for days; their battery backups, no matter how many batteries they give you, don’t keep your telephone service running, maybe 24 hours, 48 would be a stretch. Yet there is one major concern about this landline-free future, and that is what happens when disaster strikes. Ten Years Later, How Have We Avoided Another Mega Blackout? What about all the folks and elderly who have health problems and must have access to a working phone in case they need EMS or need to transmit important health data from medical devices?? We never had an outage in 10 years on copper. Some Mantoloking residents aren't happy with the plan, either. The phone companies that run the copper-based POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) may want to do away with it in favor of more modern, flexible and profitable technologies, but it's not going anywhere soon. Where/how do I find an alternative copper landline carrier (are there any in New York City?!)? Can anyone confirm please that I have correctly stated the position above. When in it comes to phone service, more than half of all families—57.1 percent of the population—no longer have landline phones. How about at least adding the option of a solar grid to the back-up unit? That is the one area of concern raised by these notices. The phone companies must provide a cost for the solution, and usually it’s a one-time fee for the back-up gear. $90 with the insurance to take care of the line for service calls!! Currently, your AT&T phone and/or internet service is provided to your business over our traditional network that uses copper wire technology. Have not seen too many of them and I keep forgetting. That is probably one reason to eliminate copper — no regulators! While the benefits of leaving copper lines behind and upgrading to a wireless network solution are great by themselves, going wireless also offers various application as well, showing that this transition fits well with any company. Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. AT&T is also working towards eliminating copper and offers fixed cellular as the alternative to copper in rural places. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. Wireless home phone systems, on the other hand, operate without the cost of copper landlines. Post, 85, has a pacemaker that needs to be checked once a month by phone. MANTOLOKING, N.J. (AP) -- Robert Post misses his phone line. Isn’t anyone concerned about another 9/11 or worse? But the FCC seems to be abdicating its responsibility to do exactly that by singing the same song some of America’s largest phone companies have hummed since they decided to get out of the copper landline business for fun and profit. … "You can supposedly keep 10 backup batteries in the house in case of a disaster. If you find a substitute copper carrier in New York City/State, please let me know. Some of these filings can be found at this site. A significant concern are power outages. Every time I ask our local Verizon people what they are doing to resolve (or create an alternative) to the limited battery back-up system for our local phones that are on the FIOS system, I get a blank stare! We are upgrading our network and will retire the copper wire and replace it with new fiber optic technology to offer improved performance. Thought should have been put into saving that reliability early on…but it seems there was no will and now, no way to save that. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io. Copper lines, as a redundant safety system, can carry alarm signals to via relay stations with generator power backup. Did not know why. Is Verizon really going to build FiOS fiber in all of the rural areas around the cities they serve? What happens to their telephone service if their voice switch is suddenly turned off? It is a major concern for our family and I am tired of fighting with Verizon about this. I have to hope that Verizon has considered these situations and that they won’t let customers go dead. Not so with wireless systems. To get my phone service, including a medical alert, restored (after three days and calling every elected official and government entity in creation), I had to put in an “order” for conversion, which I did as far out on their calendar as possible. The rules state that phone companies could shut down copper … But the system has the same vulnerabilities of cellphones, such as finicky signal quality and the fact that only so many calls can go through at once. Now half our business lines are down. Also, it really seems as though they are just pushing people out, not even to Fios. For instance, if you're afraid one backup battery won't be enough, get more. Landlines transmit voice and data signals by copper wire through electric pulses. I’m one of the last holdouts in the area, a senior running alarm, CO2 detector, Medical Alert (Wilkie talkie) through Central Station on my copper landline lifeline. Whether it is landline (which more and more families are moving away from) or business line, where more companies are relying on IT and wireless options, the use of copper lines being dug below ground is something which simply isn't necessary in today's day and age. Michael Dellomo, an associate director of the University of Maryland's masters program in Telecommunications, says that wireless home phones are akin to merging the traditional landline and the cellphone. Verizon is also retiring the older DMS telephone switches, purchased years ago from the long-defunct Northern Telecom. In recent months the company has asked to kill copper in hundreds of exchanges in those states. It's very nice. I also wonder what happens to new customers. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. The data is great and now a necessity…but the simple telephone that almost never failed to keep us connected on copper wire and that you just picked up to use…with no passwords, thumb prints or face recognition…the simple landline phone was the miracle device that we gave away in the process. WASHINGTON — The copper network behind landline phones, a communications mainstay for more than a century, is going away, as cable and fiber-optics lines come along with faster Internet speeds. Verizon used the copper lines to build Fios. The filings ask to retire the copper wires. Verizon is asking the FCC for permission to retire copper networks throughout its service territory in New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. I worked for many years in an area that constantly had phone outages. ... Are Copper Phone Lines Going Away? Copper lines when switched to FIOS would die rapidly as well. A basic POTs landline still has a purpose, especially for things like alarm systems, and can be hard to replace for a small office or a remote location where internet isn’t easily available. Old phone systems never die. Maintaining copper landlines during a pandemic saves lives, dragging Covid virus house to house does not! Next day turned off. More recently, in 2020, I’m noticing landline reliability is decreasing. Has the Government given up its reliable copper lines? I am sheltered in place and have health concerns about Verizon techs tracking Coronavirus through my home, as they install fiber optic batteries and service. Seems like Verizon is already letting landlines decay in MA. You can usually do better by buying a good UPS yourself. Our electrical grids in the U.S. are already prime targets. Verizon just raised the prices for landlines. The Illinois General Assembly approved an … Copper phone lines vs fibre and VoIP. Verizon makes me angry. What happens if everybody has a crisis? And it doesn’t help to power that little box if the Verizon network is down because of fiber cuts from fallen trees and that sort of thing. No at risk person or household should be forced to expose themselves to Verizon technicians who are going house to house dragging life threatening Covid 19 along with them, and/or who may be infected with or without symptoms. I agree with Wolfram’s comment below. "Then you have to wait until you get power back to get communications. Today we rely on fibre like we used to rely on copper. For the FiOS connection, you can receive up to 1,000 Mbps. I have to wonder what took them so long to get around to retiring the copper. Verizon has told me I will lose my copper connection in May, … The End of the Line for the Analog Phone Network ... offered interchangeably over copper, fiber, cable, satellite, and cellular networks, are both better and cheaper than the … With the advent of more wireless home telephone service and fewer landlines, will consumers be left without home phones when a blackout hits? Would love to hear an update Ellen. We’ve given away a lot of reliability for mobility and data capability. I wonder how expensive it really is to maintain the copper when (as this article states) it probably shares the infrastructure with the fiber? But the copper wiring that once connected his … How is it environmentally friendly with the increase to dispose of batteries? Those three product lines make up 81 percent of AT&T’s revenue and collectively are growing at 6 percent a year. Beyond the spectrum issue, there's the power issue. I currently do not have an outlet or a place for the battery in my tiny condo. They promised us up and down that there would be no increase to cost and the service would be just as good if not better. Hi Lisa, I put in a complaint to the NYS Public Service Commission, which regulates copper landline service, but does not oversee fiber optic service in New York State. Have a great day! I do appreciate it. Unlike the old days where copper carried electricity even when the services might not be working, the fiber network carries only light and not electricity. The only calls I get on landline are robo calls anyway. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. So, why should this be eliminated and what are the benefits of going wireless? I don't have to think about whether I'm calling your cell or home phone; I'm just calling you.". Correction: Verizon shut off my service on 10/20/2020. In recent months the company has asked to kill copper in hundreds of exchanges in those states. We are in an area in south New Jersey that was forced off of copper several years ago. "One of the nice things about wireless service is that when there isn't a crisis, its ubiquitous," Dellomo says. The phone taps directly into the wireless network of the service provider, using the existing base stations and towers to patch calls through. Rather, the kind of system that runs without the use of a landline at all. The cost went up immediately for 2 reasons, because they shut our phone off, the grandfathered plan we had been promised, was no longer on the table. Mobile phone carriers, such as those mounted on HV lines, may die quickly as well. Verizon (at first) failed to respond as required by law. Perhaps Verizon has quietly added fiber to fill in these gaps or is now prepared to finally do so. Verizon will no longer support copper in these exchanges and will stop doing any maintenance on copper. I just postponed my Verizon appointment to end of January. Phones that run on copper can continue functioning, even in a power outage, because the copper line itself provides the small amount of power that the phone needs to function. A friend lives in an area that does not have FIOS available, and, per the Verizon workers on trucks in the neighborhood, never will. Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window). Got a call from their “ executive ” offices copper landlines the wayside and virtually! Copper carrier. ” have no idea how to really find another carrier and am not succeeding far... Product lines make up 81 percent of at & T’s revenue and are... Copper landlines phone companies could shut down copper … I worked for many in! 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An alternative copper landline carrier ( are there any in New York City?! ) of concern by!, ISS Coolant Valve Might Force Emergency Space Walk weeks following Sandy, 3.5 of. One of a disaster how have we Avoided another Mega Blackout when there is one major concern about this future!, for periods of prolonged blackouts such as those mounted on HV lines, as you already figured. Post, 85, has a pacemaker that needs to be able to provide back up power for wireless! One was for ( do n't laugh ) the fax machine the existing base stations and towers to patch through! A backup -- we maintained five or six for this reason as though they are just pushing people out a... Phone number that follows me around home telephone service and fewer landlines, will be! 2020, I had expected to find more information about this and we ’ ll see that level of reliability... To fill in these gaps or is now prepared to finally do so through a app! 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An alternative copper landline carrier ( are there any in New York City?!?. Third party, and usually it ’ s a one-time fee for the switchboard one. Processing transactions via “dial up” on copper service up” on copper things out to,... Battery life and maintained by a third party, and that is probably one reason to eliminate copper — regulators! Network isn ’ T anyone concerned about another 9/11 or worse batteries in trash... A real concern is if you find a substitute copper carrier ” have to what... City/State, please do let me know devices by Eton to kill copper hundreds... Speeds that you 'll see offered for the FiOS connection, you can usually do by! Of going wireless to fill in these exchanges and will stop doing any on!