Cell phones versus land lines - A Poll

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SMHW

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I’ve been reading the posts about cell phones for children. But based on what I have been seeing with people in the work force many of them are forgoing land lines altogether. That got me to wondering about people here on Catholic Answers.

What kind of phone service(s) do you have?
 
I have no cell phone.

Occassionally, I can see how it would be convenient, but not enough to buy one. I like being out-of-pocket (as we used to say) every now and then.
 
DH and I both work and have cellphones. Neither of us are home long enough to make a land line worth it and having cellphones has been a great help when shopping (“Hon, can you check and see if we have…”) and during emergencies (car trouble, and health problems).
 
I have really been wondering this, too, lately, and even thought about starting a poll… mainly to see if we’re the only ones left on the planet that don’t have a cell phone. 😛 I guess there’s at least 2 of us!
FWIW DH and I are both in our late twenties, we have 4 young children, and we just don’t see the necessity for one for us right now. MIL would LOVE for us to have one so she can reach us anytime. :rolleyes: 😃 i sometimes think it would be reallllly nice, but just for the convenience of it, really. we don’t travel much, and when Dh does for work, he can get a work cell. Right now it’s one less bill we have to pay!! 👍
 
I answered one cell phone, no landline though that’s not totally correct.

I do have a landline, but it is only used for the house alarm – in fact, if it rings, I do not answer it because I know it’s someone trying to sell me something – unless I’ve set the alarm off, of course. I do have to admit it did come in handy when the cell service was down during Hurricane Ike. My family did have a way of reaching me though I went to stay at a friend’s house during the actual storm hitting shore so they had to call me there.

Before I got the house alarm, all I had for years was a cell phone. Since I’m single, there’s not really a need for two phones. I used my cell to call my family because we’re on the same cellular service so it was free. Plus my landline with the long distance was around $50.00/per month. So it was basically a cost decision for me.
 
We have “dry loop” DSL and cell phones. We have a spare cell phone number for the kids to use in certain cases, but they are NOT getting a cell phone until they are much older, and show much more responsibility.
 
Interestingly, cell phones have been incredibly important for the developing world. In the past, countries had to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure for land lines, connecting each and every house. Now, all that’s necessary is money for a few cell towers and somewhere in a village to charge your phone. There are some countries in Africa that have gone from 10% of the population having phones to 70% in a matter of a few years. This has also greatly aided the development of businesses, especially in remote areas.
 
Due to BIL’s business, we are able to have 3 cell phones (one for me, dh and ds) with unlimited txt and calls for less than $30/month. We get cable internet supplied by ds’s online public school for free. So having a land line seems silly in our situation. Besides, we are hardly ever home anyway.
 
Dh and I each have a cell phone. We also have a phone line to the house but its only for the alarm or fax machine…we never answer that phone.
 
we need a landline for DH’s computer which is used to link client sites, so must be secure, and the firewall and the software he needs to link won’t work w/o landline. We have two lines one for the phone and one for the computer and if that phone rings it is only a client for him, or a telemarketer, so I never answer the house phone. All parish business, family calls, and social activities–softball league etc. use our cell phones.
 
Rolltide said:
Interestingly, cell phones have been incredibly important for the developing world. In the past, countries had to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure for land lines, connecting each and every house. Now, all that’s necessary is money for a few cell towers and somewhere in a village to charge your phone. There are some countries in Africa that have gone from 10% of the population having phones to 70% in a matter of a few years. This has also greatly aided the development of businesses, especially in remote areas.
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That’s true. My boyfriend in the Philippines has only a cellphone. When I complain about his phone being out of range, people ask why he doesn’t have a landline. The cost to get a landline hooked up to his house would be pretty high, whereas a cellphone just needs a tower nearby. Unfortunately, his phone doesn’t get reception in the house, so he can only call me when he’s out. :rolleyes:

I answered that I have multiple cellphones and no land line. There’s no point in having a land line when I’m only home to sleep. I have two cellphones, but that was due to a shady cellphone dealer signing me up for a contract I didn’t ask for. I insisted that he switch me over to the right contract at his expense. He gave me $200 and a free phone, but it would have cost more to cancel the contract, so I’m waiting until closer to the end of the contract to cancel it and sell the second phone. So now I have the A phone for work and the B phone for friends.
 
I have no land line and a cellphone. I figure it would be more or less the same after adding the long distance to a regular land line and I’m willing to pay a bit for convenience, especially with my crazy work hours. And there is no point in me having a land line, I live by myself and have a cable modem. 🤷 😃
 
My husband and I each have a cell phone. He needs one for work, I use mine mostly for free long distance. And to be available in case of emergency for our son.

We have a house phone for local calls and it is the phone our son uses. He won’t have a cell until there is a reason for it or he pays for it.
 
We have a landline and DH & I each have a cell phone. I rarely use mine (maybe a couple of times a month) – the landline is more convenient and cheaper. Truth be told, I don’t even know where my cell is right now; it’s probably sitting with a dead battery in some coat pocket.
 
We dropped the landline about a year ago since my wife and I each have a cell phone. Much cheaper. We do not miss the land line and we are available all the time, a plus since both mothers are in their 80s.
 
No land line, cell phone for me and DH. I haven’t had a land line since 01. People were always trying to sell me things over it. Pfft. Don’t need that!
And of course my children have cell phones! The girls are 14 months old! I thought it was time. 😃 No, seriously, their favorite toys are our old cell phones. They would take a shoe and put it up to their ear and pretend they were talking on it. I felt bad for them, what with their little shoe phones. They needed real phones. That beeped! 😛
 
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, none of our cell phones worked. The good ole landline never missed a beat.

Peace

Tim
 
It should be said that telephone set up varies greatly by country. In Canada you pay a flat rate for a land line and that allows you unlimited local calling, “local” often covering several towns/communities Add a long distance plan and for $60/mo I have unlimited local calls any time and unlimited long distance calls between 6 p.m. & 8 a.m. daily and all day Saturday and Sunday.

I hate to think how much my 250 minutes of long distance calls to my brother, daughter & sons each month would cost me if I used my cell, which I use mainly for text messaging my son and the occasional call to DH if I’m out running around and need him to do something or to let him know where I am/when I’ll be home and when to have dinner ready.😃
 
No landline. Two cell phones- DH and I each have one, as we both have long commutes and variable schedules.
 
Orogeny said:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, none of our cell phones worked. The good ole landline never missed a beat.

Peace

Tim
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When I was growing up, we lost landline service a few times due to weather- trees would fall and snap the lines. And when we had a complete power grid shutdown in 2003, the landlines all went down but our charged cell phones were still working. 🤷
 
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