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Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

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Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#41

Post by heurisko »

iforgotpassword wrote: post #15
Brajeshwar wrote: post #8

Around 2012-2013, my 5/6-ish year old daughter found an old wired phone I kept around and she was astonished when I told her that wires used to connect phones. "You need wires to phone call? But why!" A few years back, in India, competition amongst the ISP/Telephone providers were heating up and everything became so cheap and readily available. I got Jio for fun, and then Airtel in hope to stop them from calling/text…

I still have a landline at home that I basically never use, "just in case". When I had a co-worker over a few years ago he brought his ~8yo, and it was a similar story. A wired phone was totally fascinating for him. Never mind that cell phones are tiny, are powered from a battery and make your voice travel through the air to as far away as you want, and even make it possible to see the person you're taking to. No, th…

> I still have a landline at home that I basically never use, "just in case".

I have a landline that I only use to call my mobile phone, when I lose it within the house.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#42

Post by raptorraver »

timonoko wrote: post #5

You will never forget the numbers. Bloody waste of memory bits. 113 (1952) ; Human operator on small island 444303 (1958) 782502 (1966) 1484997 (1978) ; My first personal phone, It was also routed to my cell phone until 2018.

I also remember quite many numbers of my friends from the elementary school. We lived in the same area so we had pretty similar numbers which made it easier to learn them - and to remember them after 25 years.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#43

Post by macrolime »

INTPenis wrote: post #14

Norway also shut down their old radio network. Which was sad to me as a history nerd because I remember reading about the heroic people who smuggled radios in briefcases and in attics just to bring news to people during german occupation.

My great grandfather had a radio hidden under a pile of wood.

One time a bored German soldier threw pieces of wood at the wall and almost got to the radio. My great grandfather told him he had to stop because there was a sick old lady in the house and he did.

My grandmother was just a kid and used to be really scared that the Germans would find the radio and send her parents away to a concentration camp. I guess this is the reason all the tracking and surveillance on the internet was quite scary to her and made her rather wary of using it.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#44

Post by SwiftyBug »

cujaneway wrote: post #19
mytailorisrich wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am with Vodafone and the standard broadband fee includes the landline. But yes, there is still always a landline required and thus has to be priced in somehow. Now they have deployed full fibre so I could ditch everything and move to that but that would be more expensive...

I'm with Vodafone too but I didn't need a line rental, I wonder if they've changed their policy as I only got mine a couple years ago.

I've been with Vodafone for 10 months now. Wanted to have broadband and two mobile lines. Was forced to get the landline in the package. I just never plugged any phone to the wire.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#45

Post by he_is_legend »

gautamcgoel wrote: post #33
phire wrote: post #30

In NZ, landlines are also on their way out. It's not quite unsupported, but you can't sign up for a new copper landline plan unless there is no mobile coverage and no fibre coverage at your property. Otherwise, for anyone who really wants a "landline" you are getting VOIP over fibre or VOIP over mobile broadband. 87% of population have access to the new fibre network, and the old copper network is just redundant and…

It seems to me that VOIP over fiber is functionally similar to a landline - you pick up a clunky phone and return it to a cradle. I miss that analog feeling! I guess the main difference is that you lose the ability to place a call if the power goes out.

A landline will usually still work when there is a power outage - VOIP and fibre not so much.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#46

Post by Arnt »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #18

In the event of a disaster (earthquake, flood, blizzard) is voip infrastructure more or less 'fragile' than a copper landline? I assume this deprication will probably be cost related but I am curious about the implications on the emergency side of things.

It's not really about cost. It has implications on cost, but…

Some spare parts have been out of production for decades. If one of those parts needs replacement, then keeping an exchange running may now need replacing much more than just the broken part, or the technicians may try using parts from other exchanges (the number of landlines is much lower than at peak, so there are spare spares in many exchanges, so to speak). That's an expensive way to maintain a network, obviously.

VoIP infrastructure is more fragile than copper assuming equal hardware age and comparable maintenance regimes, but I assume that the lack of spare parts changes that.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#47

Post by timrichard »

he_is_legend wrote: post #45
gautamcgoel wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me that VOIP over fiber is functionally similar to a landline - you pick up a clunky phone and return it to a cradle. I miss that analog feeling! I guess the main difference is that you lose the ability to place a call if the power goes out.

A landline will usually still work when there is a power outage - VOIP and fibre not so much.

I'm in the habit of stashing a few UPS units around the house, so the home network has coverage....

I think my ISP in the UK (BT) offer a fibre package that has battery backup, probably for customers that have medical or emergency devices connected.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#48

Post by timrichard »

kijin wrote: post #38
DocTomoe wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pure old copper-line phones did not need a working power outlet in your home - electricity was introduced to the system at facilities of the phone company (often miles away), and often used a dedicated electric grid. With VoIP, you tend to have your own, plugged-in wall box. Which becomes useless the moment your electricity stops, e.g. in case of natural disasters. Also, analog telephony just sounds better than digit…

Has anyone tried plugging all of their internet-related equipment into a UPS, including the wall box? Will that allow you to keep VoIP working in the event of a power outage, or is it a pointless exercise since the ISP's equipment on the pole will also be down?

I did this during our last power cut. The ISP was unaffected. Kept a few table lamps going too.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#49

Post by nikau »

DocTomoe wrote: post #22
DoingIsLearning wrote: post #18

In the event of a disaster (earthquake, flood, blizzard) is voip infrastructure more or less 'fragile' than a copper landline? I assume this deprication will probably be cost related but I am curious about the implications on the emergency side of things.

Pure old copper-line phones did not need a working power outlet in your home - electricity was introduced to the system at facilities of the phone company (often miles away), and often used a dedicated electric grid. With VoIP, you tend to have your own, plugged-in wall box. Which becomes useless the moment your electricity stops, e.g. in case of natural disasters. Also, analog telephony just sounds better than digit…

Not to mention the exchange usually had tens or hundreds of lead acid batteries which could keep it running for a long time.

Re: Norway: Landlines will no longer be supported

#50

Post by themodelplumber »

kube-system wrote: post #6
themodelplumber wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have wondered what the closest thing for a "family" contact number might be. At least in the US. One idea that came to mind was a family GMRS license. Cheap and FCC-official for the whole family, but until the spec is modified there might be a tiny distance issue. :-)

The universal family contact in the US is now “[familyname555]@[cablecarrier].com/net”

I noticed people aren't using those anymore, at least not around where I live. Seems like there's a family Gmail address more often unless they are 50+ y.o.
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