The dam has burst: suddenly millions of people are dumping their monopoly-company land lines, and going cell-phone only. This is especially true for those under age 45. It's due to the economy: As people look for ways to trim bills, the land line seems the most redundant, and it's becoming one of the first things people choose to cut.
Monopoly phone companies know this. There have been allegations that they've been making it hard for you to port your land line number over to a cell or internet phone service. But the Feds have recently addressed this with a new sanction that requires them to port (transfer) your number over in one business day. Now, this doesn't include weekends -- so here's a tip: don't port your phone number over on a Friday, as you may find yourself without any phone service at all until the following Monday! Port your number early in the week.
Executive Producer Christa dumped her land line this week, which was tied to her DSL modem. She and her family are now cell-only, and chose to get their internet through Clear, a wireless high speed service that's now in the Atlanta area. She said it was fast and easy to make the switch. And bonus? Her download speed is faster than before. Clear is a new 4G Wi-max service that's newer and faster than Clearwire's previous service, but is only offered in some markets right now. You can check
Clear.com to see if it's available in your area.
So is dumping your land line right for you? There are some issues to take into consideration when making your decision. Christa was warned by the phone company that 911 service is not always 100% reliable from cell phones. And if you have a home security monitoring, you'd need to switch to a wireless system.
Finally, try to avoid getting into any long-term bundle contracts with your phone company, as there are a lot of options coming just around the corner.
