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Fixed-line phones are one of the oldest forms of telecommunication, used in homes and offices for many years. However, with the use of mobile phones and internet telephony services, people are asking if fixed-line phones are already on the road to becoming the next big fad. Here are several signs that suggest that the ordinary landline is heading the same way as many other obsolete gadgets.

Losing our Connection: The Declining Number of Landlines
One of the most significant indications is the reduction of landline subscriptions over the last 15 years. The CDC also reported that more than 70% of American homes had a landline in the early 2000s. Currently, only 26% of the households still use them as of 2020. Also in business usage, VoIP and hosted communications now surpass traditional wired phones. The trend is expected to continue as more people use mobile devices and VoIP services become cheaper.

The usefulness of mobile phones
This points to the fact that mobile phones have become convenient as one of the main reasons for the low usage of landlines. Every person possesses a smartphone, thereby making and receiving calls, emails, or text messages at any convenient time. However, with unlimited calling plans, there is no reason to have an extra phone line at home. Also, mobile phones have no support structures and are always functional during storms and disasters despite the overhead phone lines collapsing. To most individuals, the portability is more important than the loss of their home phone.

The Increased Use of VoIP Services
Another of the threats facing conventional landlines is the increasing use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems. VoIP is a technology that enables users to talk to each other by using a broadband internet connection rather than a telephone line. Contrary to expectation, the sound clarity of these digital phone services may even surpass that of an ordinary telephone line connection. Also, the VoIP system offers several features such as auto-attendant, voicemail to text, call metrics, voicemail to email fax to email, and many others. This has made homes and enterprises shift from landline phones to VoIP and cloud phone solutions due to flexibility, low costs, and mobility.

New possibilities of Internet-mediated interaction
In addition to the simple act of calling, landlines are also threatened by other forms of communication that are available on the Internet. Using Facetime, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and even Zoom and other related applications one can not only call but also video call anyone irrespective of geographical location. Social apps have also replaced the traditional call for most individuals or short-form daily conversations. With a good internet connection, people can talk to each other as they would through the phone but without the need for having to be connected to any cell or landline network. Such changes in human interactions are technology-driven and therefore present a long-term threat to POTS.

The Advancements of Landline Phone Features
Looking at landlines, one can have the feeling that they are very limited in comparison with the constantly progressing communication technologies. They support only audio calls, can not interact with mobile devices, do not have visual interfaces, and do not allow sending messages or data. Transferring calls is cumbersome and conversely, they offer few enhancements for business communication. As we already well know, modern systems of voice-over-Internet protocol phones are equipped with magnificent features, but traditional landline phones have not gone through almost any changes for decades – which can be considered a drawback for both households and business entities.

The Transition to Fiber Optic Infrastructure
Due to the adoption of fiber optic cables, many telecom providers across the globe have been moving their infrastructure to fiber optic cables since they enable ultra-high-speed data transfer through light signals. While the infrastructure of the networks has moved from the copper wires to the faster fiber optics, the old-fashioned landlines are gradually becoming a thing of the past. Fiber networks still compensate for POTS-based digital phone services but through updated technologies namely IP-based technologies. It is the writing on the wall that switchboard-based landline systems are headed to extinction as networks advance to cater to 5G and other higher-grade connectivity systems.

Continuing Cost Saving With Alternatives
The need to sustain the conventional fixed-line telephone network forces phone companies to constantly fund the complicated PSTN network. However, systems such as the SG-1 system do not seem to fit the current global technology strategic plans. Telecoms can reduce their operating expenses dramatically given that they can shut down their oldest networks. Arguably for many providers, adopting mostly modern VOIP, mobile, and cloud-based systems is a lot more logistically feasible and cost-effective. This is true because cost savings are also reflected as consumer benefits in the process as well. In the long term, the management of fixed telephones is not sustainable for telecommunications organizations.

Telephones have become a younger generation’s relic of the past
Many millennials have never used phones with cords for their communication requirements, categorizing them as a ‘digital native’ generation. A recent survey showed that 75% of Americans aged 25-34 are using ‘wireless only’ homes. The younger generation may perceive the use of a landline as an outdated means of communication that is not useful anymore. They have relied on those gadgets as their main phones, for the most part or all of their lives. With Gen Z emulating the same mobile-first usage trend, subsequent generations are not likely to embrace landline usage, which further contributes to the elimination of the phase-out process through change in consumer mobile technology.

The Road Ahead
Although old-fashioned copper wire POTS lines are on the verge of retirement, it does not necessarily imply the extinction of voice calls. As with the classic networks, modern internet service protocol can transmit voice just as effectively. As telecom giants continue to shut down their oldest infrastructure, a majority of their clients are moved to equal or superior VoIP and fiber optic telephone line services. Fixed telephone lines will probably decline in the same way that technologies such as floppy disks, dial-up modems, and VCRs have done over the next decade. While this is the case, however, the landlines shall not be eradicated but shall transform from analog devices to digital ones. Who knows, one day the sound of a dial tone will be associated with nostalgia even if it is not the main thing in telecommunications. For now, it appears that mobile connectivity and cloud-based communication are set to completely supplant - standalone landline phones.

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