In message , at 08:39:16 on Tue, 12 Jun
2012, d remarked:
It was also a very high-functioning cordless phone for use a home.
Despite several attempts, I don't think there's yet a comparable
solution that's caught on (a single phone to use cordless at home and
wireless at large).

That sounds like a solution that no longer has a problem. A lot of people
don't even have landlines at home now , they just rely on their mobiles.
Which is probably fine until there's an emergency and you can't find it.

Mobiles are much more common now, the Rabbit was withdrawn at the same
time as Hutchison PCN was launched - you probably know it as "Orange".

And it was several years after that before PAYG was introduced, so
mobile phones weren't just more per minute than a Rabbit, but typically
also needed a £30/month subscription. And obviously you had to but two
phones - a mobile and a cordless, because mobiles weren't free.

As for having a landline, I need it for ADSL. I also think it's a bit
rude to expect friends and family to call an expensive mobile number
rather than a landline.

--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:11:01 +0100
Roland Perry wrote:
As for having a landline, I need it for ADSL. I also think it's a bit
rude to expect friends and family to call an expensive mobile number
rather than a landline.

Thats true - unless they're using free minutes on another mobile of course )

B2003

We were about to embark at Dover, when (Roland Perry)
came up to me and whispered:

As for having a landline, I need it for ADSL. I also think it's
a bit rude to expect friends and family to call an expensive
mobile number rather than a landline.

That's easy - my Sipgate voip number routes to my Nokia mobile phone.

£6 a month is half what BT charge for a second line, and it keeps my fax
line freed up.

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981
IF you think this http://bit.ly/u5EP3p is cruel
please sign this http://bit.ly/sKkzEx

---- If it's below this line, I didn't write it ----

On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:11:01 +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 08:39:16 on Tue, 12 Jun
2012, d remarked:
It was also a very high-functioning cordless phone for use a home.
Despite several attempts, I don't think there's yet a comparable
solution that's caught on (a single phone to use cordless at home and
wireless at large).

That sounds like a solution that no longer has a problem. A lot of people
don't even have landlines at home now , they just rely on their mobiles.
Which is probably fine until there's an emergency and you can't find it.

Mobiles are much more common now, the Rabbit was withdrawn at the same
time as Hutchison PCN was launched - you probably know it as "Orange".

And it was several years after that before PAYG was introduced, so
mobile phones weren't just more per minute than a Rabbit, but typically
also needed a £30/month subscription. And obviously you had to but two
phones - a mobile and a cordless, because mobiles weren't free.

As for having a landline, I need it for ADSL. I also think it's a bit
rude to expect friends and family to call an expensive mobile number
rather than a landline.

According to this [1] article in Norwegian, the landline voice network in
Norway will be decommissioned before 2017. Telenor says spare parts are in
practice not produced any more and the suppliers will end support in 2017.
New telephones that looks like and is operated like a traditional
telephone, but with a mobile antenna, will be on sale, and also boxes you
can plug your old phone into. These will have much better antennas than
regular mobiles.

Apparently, the biggest challenge lies in converting systems relying on the
landline network, like burglar alarms, and safety alarms for the elderly.

[1] http://www.amobil.no/artikler/over-o...lefonen/110094

--
jhk

In message , at 10:25:45 on Tue, 12 Jun
2012, d remarked:
As for having a landline, I need it for ADSL. I also think it's a bit
rude to expect friends and family to call an expensive mobile number
rather than a landline.

Thats true - unless they're using free minutes on another mobile of course )

I'd be expecting most of the calls from other landlines.
--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 08:41:54 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

A friend of mine is into Skype. Unfortunatly when he calls me from all of
7 miles away it sounds like he's calling on a CB radio from Mars. The call
quality is utterly abysmal. You'd think in the 21st century it would be
possible to come up with something that had better sound quality than an
system designed 100 years ago.

The sound quality you get is highly dependent on available bandwidth, his
outging and your incoming. For example, when I have called home from London
the other person usually complained about sound quality when I used the
mobile data network but not when I used the hotel WiFi.

--
jhk

On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:57:35 +0200
Jarle H Knudsen wrote:
According to this [1] article in Norwegian, the landline voice network in
Norway will be decommissioned before 2017. Telenor says spare parts are in
practice not produced any more and the suppliers will end support in 2017.
New telephones that looks like and is operated like a traditional
telephone, but with a mobile antenna, will be on sale, and also boxes you
can plug your old phone into. These will have much better antennas than
regular mobiles.

Apparently, the biggest challenge lies in converting systems relying on the
landline network, like burglar alarms, and safety alarms for the elderly.

Sounds a very stupid decision made by people who only care about the bottom
line. Land lines allow emergency services to pinpoint someone precisely,
mobiles don't. The "we can't get the parts argument" usually means "we don't
want to pay to upgrade the parts".

B2003

On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:09:38 +0200
Jarle H Knudsen wrote:
On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 08:41:54 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

A friend of mine is into Skype. Unfortunatly when he calls me from all of
7 miles away it sounds like he's calling on a CB radio from Mars. The call
quality is utterly abysmal. You'd think in the 21st century it would be
possible to come up with something that had better sound quality than an
system designed 100 years ago.

The sound quality you get is highly dependent on available bandwidth, his

Yes it is. Home internet connections are a poor medium for real time voice and
video. Real time data needs a minimum fixed bandwidth. The POTS service with
its dedicated lines provides this.

B2003

On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:20:52 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

Sounds a very stupid decision made by people who only care about the bottom
line. Land lines allow emergency services to pinpoint someone precisely,
mobiles don't. The "we can't get the parts argument" usually means "we don't
want to pay to upgrade the parts".

Telenor is currently loosing about 6,000 landline customers every month.
Norway has a population of just over 5,000,000.

--
jhk

On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:29:15 +0200
Jarle H Knudsen wrote:
On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:20:52 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

Sounds a very stupid decision made by people who only care about the bottom
line. Land lines allow emergency services to pinpoint someone precisely,
mobiles don't. The "we can't get the parts argument" usually means "we don't
want to pay to upgrade the parts".

Telenor is currently loosing about 6,000 landline customers every month.
Norway has a population of just over 5,000,000.

So what? Is that a good reason to abandon the entire system and rely on
cellular systems which are unreliable and can be jammed by anyone with a 20
quid device off ebay?

B2003