by Victoria Jeffrey

Created on: May 11, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

Years ago it would have been unthinkable for a person to go without a landline telephone. It always seemed necessary to have one but today, with the many mobile phones and VOIP services available many people are choosing to get rid of their landline phone. It's actually a way to save a good chunk of change each month and over the course of one year those savings can really add up! Younger people moving out on their own or buying their first home may have never even used a landline in their own home. Many simply don't feel the need for one and can get along fine without it. Is this the right choice for you? What are the benefits and problems of giving up your landline phone?

Many of the traditional phone companies charge a lot of money for their POTS (plain old telephone service) and at the same time offer mobile phones and mobile phone plans. Sometimes these plans can be cheaper than the landline phone, especially in regards to long distance. However, it must be noted that this all depends on how much you use your mobile phone.

Besides mobile phones, there are many VOIP services that can be even more affordable. A lot of money can be saved by using broadband (VOIP) phones, especially when it comes to long distance calls and calling features. It used to be that with landline phone service you had to sign up with a long distance carrier. In many cases you were denied long distance service by the phone company if you had less than perfect credit with them. Long distance was often very expensive with these carriers. Some people were denied this privilege altogether and had to use calling cards if they wanted to call long distance. These days, regardless of whether you have good credit or not, you can get cheap or free long distance with many mobile phone plans and many VOIP plans. No one is going to control who you can call and where. Freedom is another benefit of these alternative phone services.

There may be instances and situations where it would not be wise to get rid of a landline phone. Those could be:

1. You have a home business and you need more than one phone line coming from your house for your business.

2.You live in an area that gets a lot of storms and natural disasters or you may simply live in an area where the electricity goes out often.

3. You live in an area with lousy cellphone coverage or you are someone who is disabled or living on very low income.

Those in the last category can usually get very cheap landline service and since landline

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