4 ms·

that's unfortunate. I'm curious about the possibility of some other entity (cities, counties, local groups) taking control over the systems and providing cheap

that's unfortunate. I'm curious about the possibility of some other entity (cities, counties, local groups) taking control over the systems and providing cheap or free service. ham radio groups might be good at that.

joezydeco 9y ago
Anything that doesn't look like a wall-mounted phone will never go over with the groups that really need it. Especially seniors. IMO what's needed is a product with a simple cellular voice modem that plugs into the telco interface box and simulates the legacy landline service.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  The solution you've suggested exists. http://www.portech-us.com/ http://www.portech-us.com/ It's called a cellular analog gateway.
  - joezydeco 9y ago
    It's got to be a bit more consumer-friendly than this (and retrofittable into existing house wiring including power supply), but yeah this is what I was talking about.
    - toomuchtodo 9y ago
      > It's got to be a bit more consumer-friendly than this If the demand is there, I encourage you to build such a solution! The BOM should only be ~$30-40, maybe a bit more. > and retrofittable into existing house wiring including power supply This is simple. You simply disconnect the wiring on the outside of the house where the ILEC terminates their on-prem wiring, and plug this device in to the house wiring (this is usually how cable providers and other non-ILECS do it when they put equipment on prem to provide phone services over fiber or coax). You then battery back it with a lead acid cell.
      - joezydeco 9y ago
        Believe me, I've thought about it. There's a lot more to do than just designing the device. There's service components to the whole system as well (porting numbers, signing people up, subscriptions, E911 services, etc). >You then battery back it with a lead acid cell. Well you also need to pump it up to 90VAC for ringing. Again, more details but they are important ones.

joezydeco 9y ago

Anything that doesn't look like a wall-mounted phone will never go over with the groups that really need it. Especially seniors. IMO what's needed is a product with a simple cellular voice modem that plugs into the telco interface box and simulates the legacy landline service.

toomuchtodo 9y ago
The solution you've suggested exists. http://www.portech-us.com/ http://www.portech-us.com/ It's called a cellular analog gateway.
- joezydeco 9y ago
  It's got to be a bit more consumer-friendly than this (and retrofittable into existing house wiring including power supply), but yeah this is what I was talking about.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    > It's got to be a bit more consumer-friendly than this If the demand is there, I encourage you to build such a solution! The BOM should only be ~$30-40, maybe a bit more. > and retrofittable into existing house wiring including power supply This is simple. You simply disconnect the wiring on the outside of the house where the ILEC terminates their on-prem wiring, and plug this device in to the house wiring (this is usually how cable providers and other non-ILECS do it when they put equipment on prem to provide phone services over fiber or coax). You then battery back it with a lead acid cell.
    - joezydeco 9y ago
      Believe me, I've thought about it. There's a lot more to do than just designing the device. There's service components to the whole system as well (porting numbers, signing people up, subscriptions, E911 services, etc). >You then battery back it with a lead acid cell. Well you also need to pump it up to 90VAC for ringing. Again, more details but they are important ones.