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Eleven reasons to keep traditional phone service.

Recently FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler called for the elimination of traditional phone service in favor an all IP Telephony world. Over time the marketplace may go that direction, before we start decommissioning all the copper lines in the U.S. there are some things we should consider. Tom Wheeler's blog can be found at this link

http://www.fcc.gov/blog/ip-transition-starting-now

  1. The current system cannot be easily hacked
  2. This will give the government the ability to regulate the Internet
  3. All of new ideas require power on the customer premise to function. That means if you have a power outage no alarm or phone service. Think of this next time you are in an elevator.
  4. A packet voice network allows easy storage for your phone calls. Let's help the NSA in their collection efforts.
  5. It will allow the government the ability to shut-down the communications infrastructure.
  6. A computer virus could wipe out the ability to make phone calls
  7. Software based phone switches are full of software glitches
  8. Demanding that phone companies all change their offerings at the same time will cause a spike in phone rates. If the marketplace changes the pressures of competition will keep those cost from being passed to the consumer.
  9. IP Telephony takes more bandwidth than traditional T-1 digital phone calls. Traditional T-1 utilizing TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) uses 56K or 64K worth of bandwidth. To achieve nearly the same quality, IP Telephony requires 80K of bandwidth.
  10. Many carriers use a POTS line connected to their managed routers for trouble shooting. If a router is not working you cannot use the Internet to reprogram the router. The cost of managing services will have to increase for the providers and the customer.
  11. Federal mandates in technology do not allow for leaps in technology. If better methods are developed after companies make their upgrades we would be stuck old outdated technology that conforms to government standards. In the late eighties ISDN BRI’s (Basic Rate Interface) were going to be the new standard service delivery for phone/data for residential and small business.  Two phone lines and the ability to transmit and receive data at a whopping 128K. The thought; why would anyone need more than 128K? Had BRI’s become a FCC mandated standard 128K would be your Internet speed limit from home. The marketplace created new technologies like DSL, Ethernet over copper, Cable modems, without government interference.  Please let the marketplace decide our future not a panel of bureaucrats.