http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-2517A1.pdf

It seems the intention is to retire the current phone system and replace it with all internet phone service.
Kind of like the recent switch to digital TV and radio.

I am of mixed mind over this idea.
Better cheaper phone service is possible, but currently my old black telephone still works if the power goes out.
My portable phones don't work if the power is out.
So I wonder how the new system would work in an emergency.

I am quite curious about this and I am wondering if anybody else has heard anything about it.

Can I suggest an optimistic spin on this: they're not doing away with the analog PSTN, they're asking the question, can we transition phone service to the internet, and if we did what would be the ramifications (for the disabled, for emergency signalling etc etc).

Slightly less optimistic spin: the folks who operate the old PSTN have alot of sunk costs into the infrastructure with not alot of revenue returning anymore, and they might want to get out of that 'business'. At a certain point its up to goverment to ask the question, if this is a public service with public use but a lesser return to private interests, should the public (government) pay for it?

They may be saying: its time to transition - if there are shortcomings in IP telephony, its time to engineer around them, build a better mousetrap. And truth be told, Thomas Edison would probably be licking his chops right now.

I have some serious concerns about the ability for IP to replace emergency signalling over PSTN - I have already heard from one proponent (with a vested dollar interest in making the transition) argue that as a whole, society would not be worse off for not getting a reliable 911 signal in almost all cases, but they would have to engineer a newer, better way around this dilemma. I have alot of experience dealing with the types of companies that make money off the internet, and almost zero faith that they could engineer something as comprehensive and beneficial as the PSTN. I suggest that the FCC set at least a five 9s uptime and reliability metric to any replacement, and that shutting down the PSTN be done slowly, only after years that show the replacement actually works. There aren't too many Thomas Edisons out there anymore.

FWIW, my company recently switched the whole firm over to IP telephones to combine the phones and data into one data stream to manage.

Two real world observations/experiences:

1. They installed a back-up, traditional self-powered phone to one phone line and labeled it "for emergency only." There is no back-up power in our office if the main power goes out.

2. I had to make a 911 call for police assistance because an intruder had gained access to a restricted area after hours. Another co-worker and I were still in the building. I called from the IP phone at my desk, not the emergency phone because I would have been seen by the intruder if I had gone to the emergency phone. We had been told that the 911 call from the IP phones was properly programmed and tested. The 911 call went through OK, except it went to the wrong jurisdiction! They were able to connect me to the right jurisdiction, but it still involved a delay. Don't know what I would have done it they had not; I guess try the operator. Police arrived and problem solved.

This leads me to be very wary of IP phones where the system does not have back-up/UPS power and where some programmer somewhere decides where the 911 call emerges from the network.

Both fixable problems, but, I rather it not occur on my watch.

If you use an IP phone service and need help via 911, your opening phrase should indicate your physical location, and then the services that you require. If your call ends up in the wrong jurisdiction, the first thing you want to do is get that call sent to the right place. Making sure that your town/county/suburb is the first thing that the dispatcher hears, makes it more likely that they will indeed "hear" it. We encourage people to say "I am in 'East Podunk' and I need 'the fire department.'"

I switched to internet phone a couple years ago, its not IP based but at a lower layer over the same cable as my internet and TV. The cable modem has its own battery then I have it and my wireless router and cordless phone base on my own ups so i have several hours or run time.
Compared to a land line I've found it to be way more reliable, I've had cable internet since the 90's and up until Time Warner was AOL'ed never had an issue. Once they merged with AOL and ruined their service I switched to a smaller company called Wide Open West and many times have used the internet to report my land line phone or power was out, the internet connection kept working through various storms or power outages that the other services didn't.
Out land line service was bought out by AT&T not too long before I dropped the land line for internet based phones so thats partly why the land line was so unreliable, seems they have the same issues with wired phones that they do with their wireless

A growing number of people in cities don't bother with a landline at all; they live on their cell phones.

The Internet option may have a lot of advantages. But I have to wonder about privacy issues.

I dumped the landline a few years ago (along with paper versions of newspapers).

I use Skype (via Internet) to cheaply talk with a friend in Australia.

Have called 911 a few times with my cell phone, don't need a landline for that in the city (except on 9/11/01 when the cells were jammed).

The only reason I cling to a landline is its supposedly greater resilience in a disaster. I keep it simple - no electronics.

There are electronics in the telco side so that theory is gone now.

Until I had a tool bag stolen I had a 'butt set', or officially called a test set, need to go pick up another one some day.

We share a 350minute plan on our cell phones and never use that, I prefer text or email to voice calls. I decided a long time ago that if I was going to carry a phone with me then it might as well do something more than just make an occasional call. Now my phone has almost replaced my laptop. My almost 4 year old now wants a Droid phone for Christmas