Comments on: New Poll: What do you use for Voice Communication?

By: ethana2

ethana2 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:53:36 +0000

I use VoIP whenever I can, but I carry a cell.
I look forward to the day when we can conveniently use an open protocol to communicate with anyone at any time using exclusively internet technology like WiMax.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 22 May 2007 15:13:27 +0000

Wow, that is insane Dave! I never realized what a money saver Skype could be. I do know some people who use it to call other countries, and they would have one heck of a phone bill if it wasn’t for Skype!

Thanks for the information, I always find it interesting to see how things differ in other countries.

By: Dave Gray

Dave Gray — Tue, 22 May 2007 07:03:43 +0000

@Ashley yeah sure they can get Internet access in the bush. The government actually offer a subsidized access plan with satellite, it is still pretty expensive though. Funny though it might be it is actually easier for them to get broadband that some city folk! Basically because of the fact that the government has all this cash to throw at isolated communities. Then in the “cities”, some ppl don’t have the right phone line to even get access to ADSL! Ironic eh.

@Ryan here in Aust. right now my wife and I pay 10 bucks per month. For that we get calls to each other for 5 minutes for free. Go over and they charge you for the call at full rates. Full rates… well prepare to cough: about 40 cents (AU) every 30 seconds. We don’t use it much so we are on the very basic plan, but generally the more you pay the less your per 30 second rate is. You can get it down to about 30 cents… but you are looking at an expensive plan for that. You can also get pre paid – buy time in lots of dollar amounts. But the drawback here is that you pay a premium for calls and you do not get priority access to the mobile network. So you can get bumped off during a peak time by a subscriber.

Some of the business plans are not too bad, but then you have to justify the cost of it. As a home or private user – we can’t.

Thank goodness for Skype! To give you a further insight: I ring Belgium once a week for an hour – to do show prep for the podcast. I ring my co-host’s mobile. It costs me about 12 – 15 bucks… If I were to use my landline – I would need to get a personal loan from the bank… If I were to use my mobile I would need to rob the bank!

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 21 May 2007 19:07:44 +0000

@spock1982: If I was building a house I wouldn’t pay to get it wired with a telephone line either. The only thing that I really care about is how fast the Internet is that I can get.

@Fx Extension Guru: I remember those good ol’ days of having two landline phones. Ahh, and when you had to wait to connect to the Internet. When I moved out of my parent’s house in 2003 we still had the two phone lines and television through an antenna. Then, of course, when I leave they decide to get cable TV and Internet when they hardly use the computer!

@OldManDeath: A lot of phones even have GPS built-in to them now for 911 locators. I know my Nextel phone has it, and Nextel is one of the only companies that allow the user to gain access to the GPS unit in the phone. By that I mean I can hook my phone up to my computer and use it as a GPS unit.

@beggari: I remember a year or two ago when Vonage was getting in trouble for having poor 911 location services. When my brother first got the service they told him that he could take the phone anywhere there was an Internet connection, but if he had to dial 911 they would only go to his house address because that is what’s tied to the phone. I think the government eventually made them change that (at least in the United States).

@Dave: Wow, I didn’t realize what a difference it was between using cellphones here in the United States and in Australia. Ashley and I share minutes on a cellphone plan right now where we get 1000 minutes per month for about $70, but I’m guessing yours is a lot more than that if it is “cost prohibitive?”

By: Ashley

Ashley — Mon, 21 May 2007 14:52:10 +0000

Thanks for the insight Dave! It does sound like a vicious circle. So is it at all possible to have internet access in the “outback”? I read about the distances that it takes for those living in the middle of nowhere to even get to a grocery store or hospitals. I’d assume they aren’t even able to get an Internet connection there?

By: Dave Gray

Dave Gray — Mon, 21 May 2007 14:15:11 +0000

Just thought I would chime in with an Australian perspective. Here we have to have a landline to our homes. Basically, we don’t have cable, most of us get our Internet via copper and the fastest most of us can get is 8MB. The bigger cities get access to ADSL2 and some get cable but they are a minority. Even these services you need a landline. Even if you don’t even use the damn phone you have to have it for Internet access! Plus the major telco here in Oz is the only provider, so they charge whatever they damn well wish, case in point being somewhere in the vicinity of 30 dollars (AU).

As far as cell phones or as we call them here “mobiles” go – it is fairly cost prohibitive here to use a mobile exclusively for your calls. One of the cheapest options for us is VoIP. I use Skype a lot and it is way cheaper than the landline. Now if it were up to me I would ditch my landline if it was not for the fact that I need it for net access… so the vicious circle…

Anyways that’s a wee small look into the land of Oz – yut we are backward in some respects. But consider the size of Australia and how much of that is inhabited by humans, we are mostly uninhabited – then you have the distances between places – that makes Oz a huge place and hard to provide services for. But we are getting there and the last few years have been a lot better. Bloody telcos are the ones that have the strangle hold. Meh…

By: beggari

beggari — Mon, 21 May 2007 02:21:42 +0000

For a while I was call phone only. But now with 2 kids, I like the extra security of an alternate to cell phone in an emergency – so I have VOIP also. It also makes calling 9-1-1 easier and the geolocation working so they can find us real quick.

By: OldManDeath

OldManDeath — Sun, 20 May 2007 23:25:34 +0000

I only use my cell phone for voice communications. I only have a land line because DSL is the only way to get high speed internet where I currently live. Otherwise, I would not have a land line at all. I do not use it for voice. I don’t even have a land line phone if I wanted to use it.

I do not believe the issue with 911 services being a factor in the USA as the federal government mandated that all cell phones have to have 911 service capability. The only issue I see in this respect is for people that live in areas that do not have cell coverage. They would then have to have a land line if they want a phone.

By: Fx Extension Guru

Fx Extension Guru — Sun, 20 May 2007 19:56:24 +0000

I finally dumped my landline the beginning of this year. I was paying $20 a month and barley used it. I have a “pay-as-you-go” cell phone service with free long distance. Just added $50 the other day which gave me about 550 minutes good for a year. Doubtful I’ll use all that in the next year but all I have to do is add at least $10 in airtime before the year is up to get it extended another year.

I think back about 6 years ago my folks still had dual landlines so they could access the Internet and not tie up their home phone. When they had the house built in Queen Creek Qwest offered vDSL along with phone and TV. The only reason they haven’t gotten rid of their land line is it almost free with the bundled deal they get from Qwest.

By: spock1982

spock1982 — Sun, 20 May 2007 19:49:01 +0000

I had my home built about 3 years ago and no land line from the phone company was ever connected.