911 Emergencies

The difference between 911 calls on landlines and cell phones. A landline call goes straight to the call center and they immediately know where you are. With a cell phone call, the dispatcher needs your address. If you’re incapacitated, they may not be able to find your exact location. If you happen to live in a high-density area, or apartment complex, they have no way to find your exact location when calling from a cell phone.

In an emergency, 911 finds you when you call from a landline — your address automatically displays on their screen. For children, babysitters, and even adults, facing an emergency is traumatic enough. Not knowing the address, or being able to speak, may mean emergency personnel don’t arrive in a timely manner, if at all.

Voice Quality

The quality of a conversation is much better on a landline than a cell phone. In fact, we joke amongst ourselves that, if cell phones were all we had and someone came along with a new invention called a landline, that person would be hailed as a hero, win a Nobel prize and sell his company for several billion dollars in much the same way that television went from wireless to cable.

Conversations count!

When talking on the phone, enjoy:
A crisp, crystal clear connection 24/7/365

Dropped calls, constant buzzing, and wondering if the other person can you hear you

It’s all about the conversation, so make it count! A landline connection offers you the highest quality voice transmissions – all the time – anywhere in the comfort of your home.

(Word of CAUTION to those who like to crinkle paper or pretend the connection is bad to end a conversation – it won’t work when you’re on a landline, so don’t try it at home. It only works in the movies!)

Connect to the Internet

To get online you need a computer and a landline phone line. No landline, no DSL. Dial-up connections don’t work either. It’s plain and simple.

(Hey, this may seem obvious but we’ve seen it happen. Someone disconnects the landline to save a few bucks and then wonders why their DSL doesn’t work anymore … it’s all connected!)

Privacy

Never use your wireless phone to give out credit card or other critical data. (No kidding, this is serious business!)

Did you know that some cellular phones use radio frequencies, which can be easily intercepted? Eavesdroppers use simple devices, (e.g., scanners or other cell phones) to intercept the analog radio waves that carry wireless calls. Then, they listen to your private conversations, write down your credit card information, and find out when you’ll be on vacation to plan their evil deeds.
— With a landline — you have privacy!

Home Protection

Today, many home security systems only work if a landline phone is in operation. Why? Because the home’s fire and burglar alarm systems are hardwired into the phone system to automatically alert authorities. (Hint: Security companies know how dependable the landline system is – that’s why they depend on it to protect you. Shouldn’t you?)

Much of the Eastern Sierras region between Carson City, Nevada and Barstow, California is dependent on decades-old telephone infrastructure and has limited, insufficient broadband middle mile capabilities, leaving wide swaths of the Central Valley and eastern California unserved. The California Broadband Cooperative’s Digital 395 Middle Mile project proposes to build a new 553-mile, 10 Gbps middle-mile fiber network that would mainly follow U.S. Route 395 between southern and northern California. In addition to 36 municipalities, the project’s proposed service area encompasses six Indian reservations and two military bases. More than 230 community anchor institutions would be directly connected at speeds of 10 Mbps, with 2.5 Gbps and higher capacity fiber-based services offered to the region’s last mile providers to expand or enhance service to households and businesses.

• Connect community anchor institutions, including 35 public safety entities, 47 K-12 schools, 13 libraries, two community colleges, and 2 universities, the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, the White Mountain Research Station, 15 healthcare facilities, and 104 government offices.
• Spur affordable broadband access for local consumers and businesses, including up to 26,000 households, 2,500 businesses by enabling local Internet service providers to utilize the project’s open network.
• Enable access to educational, medical, and commercial applications for isolated populations on six Indian reservations: Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley; Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation; Fort Independence Reservation; Benton Paiute Tribe; Bishop Paiute Tribe; and Bridgeport Indian Colony.
• Interconnect and collaborate with BTOP awardees Plumas Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative and Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to create a network peering node and establish a true regional network.