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8.
 
Re: Morning Metaverse
Mar 31, 2014, 18:26
8.
Re: Morning Metaverse Mar 31, 2014, 18:26
Mar 31, 2014, 18:26
 
Panickd wrote on Mar 31, 2014, 14:45:
Creston wrote on Mar 31, 2014, 11:20:
The one big advantage of POTS phones is that even if your power is out, you can still make calls. Bundles phones don't have that.

I also find it fairly cute that all these states are saying "Let's get rid of the land line, so the telcos can put all that money into innovation and making internet access cheaper!"

Yeah, because that's going to happen...

I both dread and look forward to the day (in a perverse way) that the government allows the POTS lines to go dead and a major disaster happens. Since most cell towers require power to function and a surprising number of them do not have a whole lot in the way of backup power it'll be one of those days when lawmakers realize they've fucked up and blame it on the companies who wouldn't have done it had the lawmakers not approved it. Even cell towers that stay functional in such situations are easily overwhelmed by call volume especially in major metro areas.

Of course I am also waiting for the day a large coronal mass ejection hits the earth and devastates the power grid. I think even intact POTS lines would be out of commission in that case.

That's precisely what happened when hurricane Sandy hit us in 2012.
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7.
 
Re: Morning Metaverse
Mar 31, 2014, 18:01
7.
Re: Morning Metaverse Mar 31, 2014, 18:01
Mar 31, 2014, 18:01
 
Simon Says wrote on Mar 31, 2014, 16:09:
Want to ged rid of POTS? No problem, fiber for everyone. Huh? What you saying? Not profitable enough compared to wireless? Everyone will get wireless with ridiculous data caps at 10 to 100 times the price on monthly bandwidth we have now and shoddy connection stability?

Fiber, POTS or GTFO!
Cynicism aside, the telcos aren't wrong. POTS usage is rapidly declining - we're already at the point where 30% of homes don't even have POTS - and the remaining customers aren't making heavy use of it as they once did. Which means the cost of infrastructure as a percentage of total revenue increases year after year, which definitely does impact profitability. POTS and its reliability is very expensive to deliver, which was fine when it was heavily utilized but is a problem when it no longer is.

Ultimately it's going to end up in a tailspin where rates have to go up to pay for the infrastructure, causing more people to leave, rise & repeat. Understandably, the telcos don't want to be operating these networks at a loss. And they especially don't want to be building out POTS (e.g. laying down new lines in Sandy-damaged communities), as the odds are they will never recover the costs of the infrastructure build out.

FiOS isn't much better, sadly. Verizon still hasn't made back their investment on that. FiOS is as similarly expensive as POTS (if not more so depending on how we're doing the accounting) and has the advantage of being a more capable transport, making it possible to sell more services over it. However the subscription rate for FiOS is too low, which is why Verizon stopped that build out. Not enough customers were willing to pay to switch to it.

At the moment most consumers are happy with CATV + cellular. CATV is already in the ground (and already hooked up in many cases), which means consumers don't have to pay for infrastructure and CableCos in turn aren't facing a huge build out to finance. And in between points of cable, consumers' buying habits show that they're satisfied with cellular for voice and light data usage. Meanwhile since Telcos can't justify building new infrastructure, they have to double-down on the one thing they do have, which is cellular.

Cellular is not a very good solution, and I complete agree the current situation sucks for people who do want bandwidth. But cellular does well enough by consumer standards that consumers will never use POTS in volume again, so POTS' days are numbered. Once the copper degrades, that's going to be it. And in the meantime no one is going to build out fiber until someone comes up with a service that can't be provided over CATV coax, as consumers seem unwilling to pay for the cost despite the current benefits.
6.
 
Re: Morning Metaverse
Mar 31, 2014, 16:09
6.
Re: Morning Metaverse Mar 31, 2014, 16:09
Mar 31, 2014, 16:09
 
Want to ged rid of POTS? No problem, fiber for everyone. Huh? What you saying? Not profitable enough compared to wireless? Everyone will get wireless with ridiculous data caps at 10 to 100 times the price on monthly bandwidth we have now and shoddy connection stability?

Fiber, POTS or GTFO!
5.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Mar 31, 2014, 15:13
5.
Re: Out of the Blue Mar 31, 2014, 15:13
Mar 31, 2014, 15:13
 
Panickd wrote on Mar 31, 2014, 14:45:
I both dread and look forward to the day (in a perverse way) that the government allows the POTS lines to go dead and a major disaster happens. Since most cell towers require power to function and a surprising number of them do not have a whole lot in the way of backup power it'll be one of those days when lawmakers realize they've fucked up and blame it on the companies who wouldn't have done it had the lawmakers not approved it. Even cell towers that stay functional in such situations are easily overwhelmed by call volume especially in major metro areas.

Of course I am also waiting for the day a large coronal mass ejection hits the earth and devastates the power grid. I think even intact POTS lines would be out of commission in that case.
Regular POTS service requires power to operate as well, and neither do most banks have much in terms of backup power. Most cell towers are good for 48hrs, most POTS bank stations are good for 48hrs because they're all digital now. Almost everyone on POTS is FFTN, or to the remote which is also on a 48hr backup.

There are solutions like fast deployment towers for disasters, and so on. And there's also a few other interesting ones like backpack deployment kits that are coming on the market now. But in the end we're in the middle of a transition phase of technology where POTS is on the way out, but wireless "isn't quite good enough" for important and emergency communications. Out in Western Canada, besides the public links, the provincial governments have their own private links for emergencies that are on their own separate paths and away from the main public paths. Between earthquakes, fire, mudslides, and who knows what else, it's a smart idea. And that's on top of HAM operators who are a dime a dozen out there.

If a CME hits this rock, you're going to have a lot more to worry about besides just the grid anyway. Including most electronics...
--
"For every human problem,
there is a neat, simple solution;
and it is always wrong."
--H.L. Mencken
4.
 
Re: Morning Metaverse
Mar 31, 2014, 15:10
4.
Re: Morning Metaverse Mar 31, 2014, 15:10
Mar 31, 2014, 15:10
 
Panickd wrote on Mar 31, 2014, 14:45:
Of course I am also waiting for the day a large coronal mass ejection hits the earth and devastates the power grid. I think even intact POTS lines would be out of commission in that case.

The power grid gets knocked out and you're worried about making a phone call? I would be more worried about where I'm going to get my porn!
Avatar 55372
3.
 
Re: Morning Metaverse
Mar 31, 2014, 14:45
3.
Re: Morning Metaverse Mar 31, 2014, 14:45
Mar 31, 2014, 14:45
 
Creston wrote on Mar 31, 2014, 11:20:
The one big advantage of POTS phones is that even if your power is out, you can still make calls. Bundles phones don't have that.

I also find it fairly cute that all these states are saying "Let's get rid of the land line, so the telcos can put all that money into innovation and making internet access cheaper!"

Yeah, because that's going to happen...

I both dread and look forward to the day (in a perverse way) that the government allows the POTS lines to go dead and a major disaster happens. Since most cell towers require power to function and a surprising number of them do not have a whole lot in the way of backup power it'll be one of those days when lawmakers realize they've fucked up and blame it on the companies who wouldn't have done it had the lawmakers not approved it. Even cell towers that stay functional in such situations are easily overwhelmed by call volume especially in major metro areas.

Of course I am also waiting for the day a large coronal mass ejection hits the earth and devastates the power grid. I think even intact POTS lines would be out of commission in that case.
2.
 
Re: Morning Metaverse
Mar 31, 2014, 12:41
2.
Re: Morning Metaverse Mar 31, 2014, 12:41
Mar 31, 2014, 12:41
 
I have hung up the phone. But how about we once again focus on Cell Phone quality instead of everything else but cell phone quality? Coverage, speakers etc. Really zero improvement in years in my neck of the woods.
Avatar 17232
1.
 
Re: Morning Metaverse
Mar 31, 2014, 11:20
1.
Re: Morning Metaverse Mar 31, 2014, 11:20
Mar 31, 2014, 11:20
 
The one big advantage of POTS phones is that even if your power is out, you can still make calls. Bundles phones don't have that.

I also find it fairly cute that all these states are saying "Let's get rid of the land line, so the telcos can put all that money into innovation and making internet access cheaper!"

Yeah, because that's going to happen...
Avatar 15604
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