[Hidden-tech] Cable/telephone question

[Gyepi SAM]

On Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 11:08:47AM -0500, Robert Heller wrote:
> I am sure it wouldn't be possible for me to retain my *Wendell* phone number,
> should I move to Shutesbury or Montague, since Shutesbury and Montague are in
> the 413 area code and Wendell is in the 978 area code.
> (I am talking about land lines -- cell phones don't have geographical 
> boundries.)
> The solution would be to yank the phone off the 'copper' and port it to a 
> virtual (hosted) PBX and go to a purely digital system, as suggested by 
> Crocker.

I don't think this is generally true anymore. I moved from Westhampton
to Northampton a couple of years back and kept my Westhampton number, which
I still have and use, though I'm now in South Africa.

However, you are correct that you have to "yank" the number "off" the copper,
which only means that your local phone company, such as Verizon, has to release
the number to your next provider.

In my case, I've had many providers and eventually bought the same OBI device that Chris
Hoogendyk mentioned yesterday and moved the phone service to Google Voice.

Moving to a digital system opens up the possibilities considerably; I am now
in South Africa, my Westhampton number rings right here, and calls to/from the US
costs nothing. Long distance rates (outside the US) are quite reasonable and only costs
as much as you actually use. That's it. There are no monthly fees.

Of course, there are downsides to everything. You need some technical
expertise to make it work (not much though) or hire someone to do it for you.

1. You need a decent internet connection and that costs at least $70/month
2. You have to pay extra for e911 service ($2/year).
3. When you lose power, you lose phone service.

All of this gets simpler each year and eventually the current business models for telephone
service will need some serious re-evaluation.

-Gyepi