Latest news with #telephone
Phone Arena
4 days ago
- Business
- Phone Arena
One customer lost phone service and AT&T chose profit over repair. Are you next?
Do you think that AT&T will break its neck to provide you with telephone service, if you're a single customer in a large area and the local copper cables have just been stolen? Yes? Really? Better think again! In a recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), AT&T Services, on behalf of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company ( AT&T Texas), requested approval to permanently end traditional copper-based telephone service for a single residential customer in the Forrest Lake neighborhood of Houston, Texas. It all began on May 25, 2025, when 872 feet of copper cable were stolen from a manhole near Bingle Road and West Tidwell Road. That's a lot of cable, but some estimate that thieves would only get $600–$1,000 for it. The worst part is that the theft disrupted service for one subscriber still relying on Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) technology, commonly known as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). According to AT&T , restoring the connection would require a full replacement of the stolen copper at a projected cost of – hold on to your hats – roughly $25,000. That's an expense that no company is ready to swallow easily, so AT&T just deemed it unreasonable for serving a single user. The carrier told regulators the incident was beyond its control and argued that the customer now has access to AT&T Phone – Advanced, a modern, internet-based voice service that the FCC considers a suitable alternative. You've probably heard about AT&T Phone – Advanced before. It operates over AT&T 's wireless network and can also link to a user's existing broadband connection to enhance reliability. It provides a contemporary replacement for traditional landlines while allowing users to retain their current phone number and handset. The service includes features such as caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and protection against unwanted calls, and it comes equipped with a 24-hour backup battery to maintain service during power outages. Is it time to go to a cellular service instead? | Image by PhoneArena So, back to the Forrest Lake case: AT&T made it clear it has no intention of restoring the original copper line, citing both the high cost and its broader plan to phase out legacy infrastructure. In the filing, AT&T argued that maintaining outdated copper lines for one customer does not make practical or financial sense, especially as it moves to shut down its copper network entirely by 2029. Recently, the affected household was formally notified by mail that the traditional landline service would not be restored. Instead, the customer was offered the aforementioned AT&T Phone – Advanced for about $45 per month. AT&T also pointed out that wireless voice services from other major providers are available in the area. I'm sure the company is just throwing it out there, in case someone gets the hint. A similar case occurred in California, where AT&T reportedly declined to fix a copper landline connection for an elderly woman after a theft incident disabled her service. The woman, aged 95, was left without a working landline for two months. It was only after local news coverage and public outcry that AT&T restored the line within two days.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Watch: How do you get a phone call with the president?
The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue shares the story behind his exclusive telephone interview with Donald Trump.
Al Arabiya
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Zelenskyy-Trump call planned for Friday afternoon: Senior Ukraine official
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US leader Donald Trump are planning to speak by telephone on Friday afternoon Kyiv time, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Issue raised by confused Gen Z hotel guest leaves thousands feeling older than ever: 'What on earth is THIS?'
A young traveller's innocent query about a strange wall socket in their French hotel suite has triggered a wave of nostalgic panic online - with thousands admitting they felt 'older than ever' after reading it. The British hotel guest posted a photo of a wall plate featuring a small rectangular opening marked with the word 'Legrand' - a well-known French manufacturer of electrical fittings - and asked: 'What is this thing?' Sharing the image with a Euro coin for scale, the confused traveller added on Reddit: 'It almost looks like the sort of thing that you slide a security chain into - but it's nowhere near the door or windows. 'I'm British and travel fairly extensively, particularly on the continent, but I don't think I've ever seen one of these before.' To anyone born before the smartphone era, the answer was obvious: it's a landline telephone socket. The device was once a common fixture in nearly every home, hotel room and office around the world. But for younger generations, it's nothing short of a relic. 'Damn, that's hitting the getting old target really hard,' one user wrote. 'That's a phone socket for house phones. Not sure what the word is in English. Landline phone?' Another joked, 'I'm feeling older every day… That was the socket used to plug landline telephones. Welcome to the 20th century.' The socket in question is known in France as a 'prise en T' - a T-shaped telephone jack developed by the French postal and telecom service. Similar to the UK's BT-style plug or Australia's RJ11 ports, it was designed for analog landline phones before digital and mobile technology took over. Once a lifeline for everyday communication, landline phones have slowly fallen out of use over the past two decades, as mobile phones became more affordable and accessible. In Australia, the shift began in earnest in the mid-2000s. By 2010, mobile phones had already overtaken landlines as the primary form of communication. Today, fewer than half of Australian households maintain a fixed phone line - with most of those used by older residents or for emergency services. In 2022, data from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) showed that just 34 per cent of households still had a home phone service connected - and many of those were bundled as part of internet plans rather than used regularly. One commenter summed up the mood best: 'It's wild to think that kids today won't even know what a dial tone sounds like. We used to trip over cords in the hallway, now you barely see a house phone anywhere.' While telephone sockets like the one in the French hotel room are still technically functional - and may even connect to a working line in some properties - their presence today is more often decorative or leftover from another era. As one Aussie wryly put it: 'It's official. We're old. The landline is now a museum piece.'
Times
22-05-2025
- General
- Times
Is the landowner responsible if a tree brings down a phone line?
Who is responsible if a telephone line crossing over a property is brought down by the landowner's tree falling on the cable?Alan Smith The landowner is only likely to be responsible for the damage to the telephone line if they knew or ought to have known of the risk of damage. (I am assuming the tree is not on or near a highway or railway. If so, different considerations may apply.) A court would take into account whether there is evidence that the landowner had carried out regular inspections of the tree and whether the telecommunications company had notified the landowner of the risk of damage. Assuming the tree was generally healthy and there were no obvious signs that it was likely to fall,
