My 91 year old Mother has a phone problem that I need advise how to help her.

jcamero said:
My Mothers Land Line Phone Company is "updating" her phone to an Internet Based phone. Now she is required, (forced) to pay for the internet, (that she does not want). When her provider showed up to "upgrade" they butchered the side of her house, drilling a hole, and installed a box about 12" square on her wall in the living room. The installer told Mom, it would "blend in". She is too old for this crap. My sister and I thought about a Smart phone, but Mom has problems with the handset she already uses, and a Smart phone won't be a good option. Is the old land line a thing of the past? What can we do to keep her phone as is without her paying for internet based service? BTW her phone company is Frontier. Could we switch providers? I have enough to manage without dealing with outside problems.
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Reading through the following document, it sounds like the Illinois legislature really let this slide with few protections to the consumer. I would've expected a clause that VoIP or digital service be offered at the same or similar cost. Voice comms are totally low bandwidth, and can provided without full package deals. Sounds like they're using this as an opportunity to increase revenue.

 
A few years ago it was a thing to use a rotary phone through a cell phone. I wonder if you could use T-Mobile home internet to come up with something similar.
 
I've been helping a few people with this. So far the best solution has been The T-Mobile + Ooma promotion that they have been running for a while (Assuming that T-Mobile has cell service at your Mother's location).

The T-Mobile Home Internet service itself is relatively new. It provides home internet using their cellular network, and is priced rather affordably compared to most other options. The Ooma device is part of the promotion, and is simply a Voice over IP device that then plugs into the T-Mobile router, and provides a phone port for your usage. You can plug in the same landline phone that she has been using for decades and it should function the same as it did before.

Since the T-Mobile modem/router connects to the internet via cellular networks, there is no complicated installation involving wires on the side of the house or drilling holes... Additionally, since it's a cellular-based internet solution, it has more built-in redundancy and tends to remain active even during times when other wired internet options may not.
 
Rey1 said:
Get her a flip phone from consumer cellular, they cater to old folks and have phones with big numbers for the vision impaired. Land lines are in on their last legs.
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Consumer Cellular has a box you can plug in your handset, and keep your phone number, best option so far.
 
My mother inlaw gets a discount on internet service. It was totally free for a while through some federal program for elderly people. That ended and my called the provider. They offered a discount. It costs $25 a month and includes the voip phone service. Voip is much cheaper for the provider than maintaining the traditional phone service.
Traditional phone service is a losing business plan and bleeding money from the phone companies. Not many people feel bad for large companies losing money. The traditional phone companies would have gotten out of the landline phone business a long time ago but are required to maintain phone service in most areas.
At my house, I have a tradition POTS Plain Old Telephone Service line. I was told that the price would be increasing but if I went to voip, it would remain the same. I agreed and they said they would send me some hardware. I never received it. However, i believe my service was converted at the main cross connect down the street.
Anyway, contact Frontier and ask about internet discounts for the elderly and if internet is actually required for phone service. You may have a state regulating authority that regulates utilities. Contact them too. Nobody wants to take the phone away from the elderly. If all else fails call the local TV news investigative reporter.
 
I live in Northern Illinois.
We have two smartphone lines and a third line for a base receiver . Total cost with Consumer Cellular is $88/month including taxes.

I don't know how familiar people are with base receivers. It has its own number. We kept our old landlines number.
Our old physical ATT phone lines coming into house were cut by myself. Our house phone wiring is now an island. The base receiver is plugged into a phone socket. (We use an answering machine instead of CU's voicemail. Easier to access. ) Any phone plugged into phone house wiring still operates alike old landlines phones.
 
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