Imagine, if you will, a world in which you're not tethered to the horrible constraints of your locally monopolized telephone provider. Unlike other industries who lobbied hard to keep taxes in check, these companies have invented whole new categories of laurels upon which to rest while service levels fell, costs escalated, and the appearance of equity and competition never even bothered to surface.I first disconnected from the grid in 1998 because I had a zillion minutes, and my house was long-distance calling range from my work, family and friends, even though I was only ten-miles from the nearest of them. I had tri-state coverage on the cell phone, since it pre-dated affordable national calling, but here's why you're going to be the next to disconnect from that system.
1 – Nationwide calling, no such thing as long-distance charges.
2 – The taxes are lower, so the bill is always less.
3 – You can take the phone with you wherever you go, and if that's a bad thing, just put it on "silent".
4 – Unless you spend countless hours on the phone, it's always going to be cheaper. Oh, unless you count "nights and weekends", because those are almost universally free.
5 – You only need a "home telephone" if you don't have a VOIP service like Vonage, and then only if your internet connection is tied to your telephone.
6 – You'll almost never get an unsolicited call, unless you go crazy signing up for drawings you simply can't win.
7 – Free caller-ID, free call-forwarding, and free voice mail. All of these are services your landline likely charges you extra for.
