Elderly 'Hit by Line Rental Charges' (bbc.com) 82
An anonymous reader shares a BBC report: Recent increases in line rental charges have hit elderly people the hardest, according to an Ofcom report. Between December 2009 and December 2016, line rental prices had increased by as much as 49% for some customers, the regulator said. And of the people with standalone landlines in their homes, 71% were aged 65 or over. Ofcom recently revealed plans to make BT -- with nearly 80% of the UK market -- cut line rental costs by 5 British Pound ($6.1). A huge proportion (43%) of the 2.9 million households with a landline only are occupied by people aged 75 and over. "Older consumers are particularly affected, as they are more likely to be dependent on fixed voice services if they do not have a mobile phone or an internet connection," the report said.
Yes, "line rental" is for POTS (Score:4, Informative)
"Line rental" covers the cost of maintaining a phone line used for POTS and/or DSL. POTS (plain old telephone service) is the "old skool phone" you mention, and DSL (digital subscriber line) is an Internet connection delivered over higher frequencies on the same copper.
This probably raises a question among some of you: "So why even subscribe to POTS in the cellular era?" Even without considering the pricing structure differences between the U.S. and British phone markets, an advantage of POTS over cellular is that POTS lets you have an extension on each storey (as they spell it), so that you don't need to go upstairs or downstairs to answer the phone. In addition, POTS allows use of a fax machine. I know some federal and state government agencies in the USA still require certain tax records to be faxed; does Britain?
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This probably raises a question among some of you: "So why even subscribe to POTS in the cellular era?" Even without considering the pricing structure differences between the U.S. and British phone markets, an advantage of POTS over cellular is that POTS lets you have an extension on each storey (as they spell it), so that you don't need to go upstairs or downstairs to answer the phone. In addition, POTS allows use of a fax machine.
Also, doesn't POTS still work when the power goes out? And elderly tend to stick with what they know, the learning curve from an old landline to a cellphone (even a dumb phone) could be too steep or daunting for the elderly, not to mention ergonomically difficult.
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Also, doesn't POTS still work when the power goes out?
Most cell phones have a built-in battery backup, which still works as long as the tower also has battery backup.
And elderly tend to stick with what they know, the learning curve from an old landline to a cellphone (even a dumb phone) could be too steep or daunting for the elderly, not to mention ergonomically difficult.
Here in the USA, both Verizon and AT&T offer cellular radios into which the subscriber plugs a POTS phone (source [verizonwireless.com]; source [att.com]). (I haven't used them and can't speak for their quality, ability to handle extensions, or ability to run off batteries in a power outage.) In addition, GreatCall offers Jitterbug phones [greatcall.com] with large buttons and large display specifically for seniors.
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But it's still crappy cell phone service. And some cell phones can't handle hearing aids well (although this is becoming less of an issue).
My hearing is perfectly fine (despite what my wife says), but if I need to really understand a conversation, I try to use a POTS line.
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Also, doesn't POTS still work when the power goes out?
Most cell phones have a built-in battery backup, which still works as long as the tower also has battery backup.
My cell phone just about stops work if I look at it cross-eyed. I wouldn't trust my life on my cell phone working when I need it to.
My home security system switched from landline to cell and it has become less reliable, but I don't care so much because for me an alarm system is more about being a deterrent.
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for me an alarm system is more about being a deterrent.
Me too. That is why I just bought the yard sign and window stickers on eBay, and didn't even install an actual alarm system. I also installed some fake security cameras. I keep a broken safe in my living room that is glued shut with epoxy and filled with bricks, and I leave a copy of "Guide to Investing in Gold" sitting on top of it. I figure if the burglars focus on that, they won't have time to steal my laptop.
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However, not all cell towers have battery or generator backup. If they do, it is rarely more than a few hours. For example, in the Lancaster floods in the UK in 2015, when the whole city lost power, there was an extremely limited service available for a few hours, but for the majority of the power outage, there was no cell service available within the city.
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Also, doesn't POTS still work when the power goes out?
Yes they do, provided the exchange still has power... Thing is almost all modern phones you can buy require power for all the digital fluff it comes with. However if you can find a basic POTS phone ... or even better - just a speaker and a pen knife, you can strip the wires and dial by touching the wires together for pulses (this is effectively how the old rotary dial phones work)... disclaimer I last tried this when I was 10, I don't know if POTS still actually support decadic dialling.
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Also, doesn't POTS still work when the power goes out?
Yes they do, provided the exchange still has power...
In the UK all exchanges have battery back-up AFAIK.
Thing is almost all modern phones you can buy require power.... However if you can find a basic POTS phone ... or even better - just a speaker and a pen knife, you can strip the wires and dial by touching the wires together for pulses ...., I don't know if POTS still actually support decadic dialling.
No, pulse dialling no longer works. As I am not one to throw things away, I still have an old (but tone dialling) phone I can plug in if I have a power cut. It is also good for fault finding around the house system.
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My pots line lasts about 8 hours when the power goes out. Yay deregulation here in Canada.
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My cell phone can be answered upstairs or downstairs because I would have chargers in both places
Unless you're upstairs and the phone is downstairs. Getting in the habit of always carrying it with you whenever you leave a room is fine if you always wear clothes with pockets suitable for carrying a cell phone, but a lot of my clothes lack pockets.
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People subscribe to it because most internet in the UK is via ADSL or variants which is delivered through the POTS system. Most often now, there is fibre to a nearby street cabinet with copper only for the last couple of hundred metres.
Cable is available but is only used by 20% of the population or so as it's often more expensive or comes with unwanted TV services.
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People subscribe to it because most internet in the UK is via ADSL or variants which is delivered through the POTS system.
That is right. Cell phone coverage is not good everywhere (almost unusable where I live) and land lines are much faster for data. I am suprised the situation is not even worse in the USA, being much larger and with more remote area.
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This probably raises a question among some of you: "So why even subscribe to POTS in the cellular era?"
I think you hit the nail on the head about the issue but didn't acknowledge it. What happens when there are a decreasing amount of POTS subscribers and an increasing number of cellular subscribers? The total revenue going towards the cost of maintenance of the POTS equipment and the employees starts shrinking. Eventually it gets to a point where there is risk associated with the "subscription fees" not being able to cover the total cost. At that point, there are two choices 1) Admit that your old produc
Online shopping keeps the post office alive (Score:2)
This is very much like the problem with the United States Postal Service. Now that we have e-mail, text messaging and all kinds of other ways to deliver digital content to each other, people don't write as much snail mail.
Which might very well be canceled out by the increase in online shopping compared to driving to brick-and-mortar stores. But then perhaps my perspective is warped by my day job. In the warehouse next door to my office, I can see a cart full of parcels that we mail through USPS because it's cheaper than shipping them through UPS Ground.
Is Royal Mail seeing the same shift in its business away from letters and toward parcels?
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The Parcel portion of the USPS business historically subsidized the first-class letter part of the business. By law the USPS has to provide first-class letter service (important point). When the law was changed to allow companies to compete with the USPS the competitors (UPS) skimmed off the profitable Parcel portion of the business and left the money-losing first-class letter delivery to the USPS.
That is the chief reason, among many, that the USPS is not a profitable business.
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I think you hit the nail on the head about the issue but didn't acknowledge it. What happens when there are a decreasing amount of POTS subscribers and an increasing number of cellular subscribers? The total revenue going towards the cost of maintenance of the POTS equipment and the employees starts shrinking. Eventually it gets to a point where there is risk associated with the "subscription fees" not being able to cover the total cost. At that point, there are two choices 1) Admit that your old product is done and retire it or 2) Start charging your shrinking subscriber base more money to be able to cover the costs.
More like 1) Announce it and watch people go batshit crazy over all the things and places that *need* landlines and back down. That's what happened here in Norway. On its high note in the late 90s the copper that 2.6 million subscribers. Now there's ~475k subscribers left (last official stats is 527k, but it drops 15%/year), that's 80%+ of your subscribers gone. Most of the remaining subscribers are elderly rather than heavy users and average call per subscription has gone from 3600 minutes to 1400 minutes
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What happens when there are a decreasing amount of POTS subscribers and an increasing number of cellular subscribers? The total revenue going towards the cost of maintenance of the POTS equipment and the employees starts shrinking. Eventually it gets to a point where there is risk associated with the "subscription fees" not being able to cover the total cost.
Except that the "maintenance" issue is bollocks. I'd like to know where my 19 GBP per month standing charge really goes. What BT need to maintain, and its capital cost, is lightweight stuff compared with my electrical power provider, and their standing charge is half that.
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[POTS is] Far cheaper than a mobile subscription.
This is rapidly becoming no longer the case, particularly for subscribers who use a flip phone and therefore don't need a data plan.
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My basic land line at home, with caller ID as the only service, costs... I think $50 per month. Prepaid cellular plans without data start at $3 per month. I could get a separate cellular phone on a separate prepaid plan in every room in the house that currently has a land-line phone, and it would still cost less than a third of what my land line costs.
At this point, just about the only people that have them are businesses and the elderly—the former because it's easier to manage assets that don't mo
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Why a standard phone?
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* Far cheaper than a mobile subscription.
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Nope, not even close. Without looking around, I can tell you that there are mobile subscriptions with 500 bundled minutes for £10 a month or less. The line rental on my POTS line, which I only keep for Internet access, is £15 a month and includes no calls whatever.
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This probably raises a question among some of you: "So why even subscribe to POTS in the cellular era?"
You generally need [to pay for] a POTS line if you want a DSL Internet service (at least, true in Australia (where I used to live) and the UK (where I live now).
In Australia you can get "naked DSL", which means you don't get a POTS service with your DSL service. IIRC these are a little cheaper than DSL with a phone line. In London I don't seem to be able to get such a thing; I have to pay a line service fee which includes some phone service that I have no intention of ever using.
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Line rental? (Score:1)
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Its that thing where the Telco charges you a renal fee for the line between the street and your house. You know to "maintain" it. Much like the "daily connection charge" power companies charge people, and in the case of New Zealand this is as high as $2 per day!
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Every article about old people is them being too poor, stupid, etc to handle life. Let's go back to the old days, the days of Logan's Run, where only the young are around.
Other than the articles about congress where the members are old people who are rich and powerful and hmmm maybe Logan's Run isn't such a bad idea after all.
Costs of maintaining infrastructure are fixed (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess, the costs of maintaining the wires and the rest of the land-line infrastructure are largely fixed. So, as people — primarily younger ones, according to TFA — drop their traditional land lines entirely, the remaining customers see their fees increased.
Nothing to see here, nothing to do about it. Whoever feels sufficiently compassionate to "do something about it" can subsidize their favorite senior(s) directly — or help them switch to a cell-phone, etc.. I've switched two elderly couples I feel responsible for to IP-telephony years ago — they had mobile phones already — and now they don't even know, their "regular" phones use Internet...
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I imagine that all DSL providers in all countries charge a fee for maintaining the copper. But I thought Virgin had laid a separate fibre network in much of Britain (source [bbc.com]).
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seems redundant to maintain two phones & two phone numbers
Redundancy is good, it gives you a usable option when one thing fails.
Accurate location services are not a sure thing with a cell phone, whereas if you call 911 (emergency services, for those not in the US) from a land line, they will know exactly where you are.
So, I'm an old-timer who... (Score:4, Funny)
...prefers to tap out his messages on a telegraph. There's just no substitute for those clicks and pauses. But let me tell you, the cost to maintain my telegraph service between me and my one friend who uses it is criminally high! If someone doesn't do something to help me out soon I'll have to choose between my telegraph or my diabeetus medicine and that's just not right!
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Yep. That's how I feel about horse-back riding myself — why can't the government provide the nice stables and other infrastructure necessary for easier travel in a saddle?
Back to "telegraph"... One of our family's numerous grandfathers, himself Internet-literate, used to "share" Internet-articles by printing them and mailing the print-outs to his computer-illiterate friend in a different city... For better or worse, there is no such option in any of the "social" <div>s and <span>s out the
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I use voip (magic jack 2014 actually) and a cell phone. Plus I have a google number.
Yea, the network effect of landlines is being lost. next up... Gasoline station prices as electric cars reach critical mass.
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This is inevitable (Score:2)
As the number of POTS phone customers decreases, the cost of maintaining the infrastructure is spread over a smaller and smaller number of subscribers.
These people need to keep up with the times or go without the things they cannot afford.
Cellular service is very affordable for basic use. A budget phone and a year of airtime is probably cheaper than a year of POTS service.
I wouldn't mind seeing a subsidy for poor people who truly need a landline, e.g., for medical alerts.
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There's something dodgy with pricing going on though.
AAISP offer an ADSL only copper pair for 10GBP/month. The only difference between this and a full telephone service is that there's no dial tone and no telephone number. It's still exactly the same wires as when you go to BT and have the full telephone service. I'm pretty sure they're actually reselling a BT offering.
I think AAISP might put a recorded message on the line - because BT engineers were apt to just take any silent pair instead of following the
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There's something dodgy with pricing going on though. AAISP offer an ADSL only copper pair for 10GBP/month. The only difference between this and a full telephone service is that there's no dial tone and no telephone number. It's still exactly the same wires as when you go to BT and have the full telephone service. I'm pretty sure they're actually reselling a BT offering.
Look at their small print and I expect that you will find that they are reselling BT bandwidth. I am with UNO for my ISP and they buy bandwidth from BT, yet even with (presumably) a profit they are still cheaper than BT . BT are just capitalising on their "established" position.
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These people need to keep up with the times or go without the things they cannot afford. ...
I wouldn't mind seeing a subsidy for poor people who truly need a landline, e.g., for medical alerts.
Yeah, fuck old people. I mean, do they really need a landline for medical alerts? (hint: hospitals are filled with old people) -_-
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As the number of POTS phone customers decreases, the cost of maintaining the infrastructure is spread over a smaller and smaller number of subscribers.
This isn't happening nearly as quickly as you might think. Unless you have cable (which is hardly ubiquitous outside major cities and large towns) or mobile Internet, or none at all, you need a POTS line. Most people in the UK have either DSL or FTTC and for these you need a landline; FTTP is rarely seen here.
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In texas, the cost for 1GB monthly service with unlimited texts is now down to $35 a month. My landline years ago was up to $38 minimum.
Main reason for my voip and google numbers is to call and locate my cell phone.
Please add "in the UK" to the title (Score:2)
the same lines used to transmit DSL? (Score:2)
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This has been solved for nearly 5 years now. Get a phone with wireless charging capability. I bought a Qi charging pad for $15 several years ago and put next to my bed. I j
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It's only going to keep getting worse under the Trump FCC>
What, did he get elected President of the UK too?
Life Link (Score:1)