Apr 1, 2009 6:41 pm US/Eastern
Dumping Landline Phone Service: Safety Vs. Money
(CBS)
Is it time to cut the cord?
Homeowners by the thousands are choosing to ditch their home telephone in favor of using only their cell or internet phone service. But is it a good idea?
The decision whether to dump your home phone boils down to weighing two competing issues -- money and safety.
"I feel like my cell phone kind of replaces my landline anyway, I don't even use my landline anymore," said Sunsharay Chestnut, of Oakland.
"It's easier to get in touch with me with my cell phone because it's always on me," said Oakland resident, Rafael Santos.
There are some in the next wave of phone customers who do plan to get a landline installed, but for the most part the trend is clearly towards a cell phone only world.
"In the last 10 years or so we've seen a decline in the number of people who have traditional landline service," said Lee Gierczynski, of Verizon Communications.
And there are simply some facts the landline companies can't argue with.
"A wireless can do everything a landline phone can do and do it mobile," said Laine Seely, AT&T director of marketing.
But experts say this dump the landline trend is more economically driven than technological.
"One of the ways they can cut cost is by not having a landline phone and just sticking with their cell phone," said Rich Stevenson, of Verizon Wireless.
But others say there is a case to be made for a landline phone from an emergency standpoint.
"We know when somebody dials from their home phone number, we know pretty much all the time where they're at," said Allegheny County Emergency Services Chief Bob Full.
Experts say to pinpoint a cell phone signal requires GPS equipment in the phone or triangulating cellular information from different receiving towers. And that can be time consuming and at best can only pinpoint your cell call.
In seeing the erosion of home phone customers, the landline providers are coming up with ways for safety-concerned customers to keep the phone where it's always been while saving money.
The average barebones phone service for a landline customer would probably be around $15 a month.
Reducing to that minimum service will save you money, but that does count home phone long distance. In reality, the savings could be closer to $30 or more a month.
But be careful if your phone is bundled with your internet or television service, unbundling and ditching a home phone could drive up the costs of those other services and negate any savings you achieve, CBS station KDKA-TV reported.
Plans, rates and usage vary so much, consumers really do need to crunch the numbers and see what's best for them.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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