Internet phone service coming soon?

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

40% of americans don't have landlines.
700,000 landlines a month are being cancelled

I didn't realize the number was that high. I could live without a land line, but for now with a wife and kids at home, the three of them can share that one land line, she has her cell phone for outside the house and I use my cell phone for most things.
It got to the point where we were having a problem monthly with our land line that I switched to the isp line, if AT&T can't keep a simple pair of wires working its no wonder they can't keep a wireless network working.

I've used Vonage, Packet8, Skype, Optimum Voice (Cablevision), Comcast and a few others. I was actually one of the first 500 users of Vonage. In the early days, the latency (delay) was bad enough to be noticeable, and still the quality can suffer over slow or congested links, but with a good connection, the quality is indistinguishable from a wireline phone. In fact, in many cases the quality was superior.

You can't beat the value of net phones. Unlimited minutes for as little as $10.00/month (let's not talk about "NetJack") and no government surcharges or telco taxes. It's amazing that I can remember paying over $100/month for phone and long distance service not that long ago (but hey, I remember when TV was black-and-white).

Unfortunately, I don't see net phone remaining free from government taxes and surcharges forever. Eventually the government will have to recoup the revenues lost and will start messing with net phone service.

A barrier to totally replacing wireline phone service is the problem of poor penetration of broadband Internet service throughout America. Sure, if you live in a metro or suburban area you're in good shape with multiple options. In outlying suburban areas you might be able to get ADSL or Cable Internet. In rural areas, you're lucky to have any options at all. It's unfortunate that the US rates as one of the lowest of developed nations in terms of high speed Internet access.

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One benefit of phasing-out wireline phone service might be that the government would pay more attention to cell phone carriers. It would be nice if they did more than just auction off radio spectrum to the highest bidder. Force the cell phone companies to stop making up bogus surcharges and fees that add as much as 30% to your advertised monthly service charge. Stop making us pay for incoming calls and texts, as is the case in most other countries. Eliminate the monopoly that some carriers exercise on equipment. Standardize on a single cellular protocol and prohibit carrier-locks on equipment. In a free market there's no reason why cell phones should cost more than $100 or smartphones more than $200. That would also eliminate the excuses for charging high early termination fees. My iPhone clone does almost everything the genuine iPhone does and cost me $70 without a contract.
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I dumped my landline years ago. Knowing that the primary disasters we are likely to face in my AO will all take out landline infrastructure I opted for cellular coverage. Cell companies can get portable cell towers up in relatively short time.
In the California wildfires, Verizon claims it never lost any coverage areas because they had the cell trucks out there covering the area. Those of you in that area can attest to the veracity of that claim.
VOIP is probably safer and more secure for the home user than standard landline. Anyone with an induction coil can pick up wire communications. VOIP would provide more security than that. Not that i would entrust any really covert communication to any communication device commercially available...