Households should explore pros, cons of dumping their land line, relying solely on wireless phones

Akron Beacon Journal (MCT) - More and more, Americans are hanging up their traditional home phone service and relying solely on their wireless phones.

Maybe you're thinking it's time you gave up your land line, too. After all, 18 percent of U.S. households are cell-only, up from 7 percent four years ago, according to survey results released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Before you decide, think through the pros, cons and practical matters, consumer advocates urge. New technology is making it easier than ever to cut the home-phone cord, but let your needs and circumstances dictate the best choice for you.

The biggest benefit, of course, is cost. Assuming you already have both wired and wireless phones, giving up a land line may save you money _ maybe even fairly big bucks if your home and cell plans have redundant services such as long distance, voice mail or call forwarding.

Pay close attention to your family's phone use each month, however. Make sure your wireless plan has enough local and long-distance minutes to cover the additional use, and compare the cost of the enhanced cell service to what you're paying now for both lines.

Keep in mind, though, that cellular companies typically offer their services in bundles, so you may have to pay for features you don't want, said Ryan Lippe, a spokesman for the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, an advocate for utility consumers. "Really, nothing is free," he said.

So let's assume you'd come out ahead with wireless-only service. Why wouldn't you make the switch?

Safety concerns, for one thing. In fact, to Mike Gikas, senior electronics editor for Consumer Reports, that's the biggest issue.

A wired phone provides more exact information on 911 calls than a wireless phone does, Lippe and Gikas explained. And that difference may be vital for some consumers.

With a traditional wired phone, Lippe said, your address automatically shows on the dispatcher's screen when you call 911. Even if you can't speak, safety forces will know where to find you.

The source of a wireless call, however, is identified in a less precise way. Most counties in Ohio, for example, have fully implemented a system called Enhanced 911, or E911, to locate wireless callers. That system provides emergency responders with coordinates that allow them to plot the caller's location on a map, and it also provides the caller's phone number so responders can call back if necessary. The information is fairly precise, but it's not as exact as an address, said Shawn Smith, 911 coordinator for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

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(By the way, E911 is also the system used for voice over Internet protocol phones, which transmit calls via the Internet rather than phone wires. Depending on the service provider, the dispatcher may or may not get your full address when you call from a VoIP phone.)

Another drawback of going strictly wireless, Lippe said, is the potential for losing phone service during a power outage. Traditional corded phones _ not cordless models _ are powered by electricity that comes through the phone line instead of your home's electrical wires. If the power goes out, your phone company is required to provide at least four hours' worth of emergency backup power to your phone, Lippe said.

There's no similar requirement for wireless providers, which are regulated less stringently in Ohio than traditional phone companies, he said. So if the cell towers aren't working, or if your cell phone's battery goes dead and you don't have an alternative way to charge it, you're out of luck.

Other issues may have a bearing on whether you need to keep your home phone. For example, how's the cellular call quality inside your house? Do you have dial-up Internet access or an alarm system that requires a phone line? Are you vigilant about keeping your cell phone's battery charged, and how long does the battery last? Will you need to make international calls?

Then there's the question of a possible connection between cell phones and cancer. While studies have shown no consistent link, scientists say more research is needed, according to the National Cancer Institute. That's doubt enough to give some people pause about using their cell phones frequently.

The 911 and power-outage issues, particularly, lead Lippe and Gikas to believe a hybrid system is a better choice for most homes than an all-wireless option, at least for now. That means keeping one traditional corded phone with minimum service for emergencies but using your cell phone to make all your calls.

AT&T's bare-bones home-phone service is $14.25 a month, not including taxes, said Jamie Carracher, AT&T Ohio spokesman. Additional discounts are available for people who meet income qualifications, he said.

Regardless of whether you give up your land line, however, technology is making it easier for you to use your cell phone at home. So you don't have to carry your phone with you all the time or walk around with a Bluetooth receiver in your ear.

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Several phone systems are available for around $80 to $130 that send your cell phone's signal to cordless handsets or even standard corded phones in your home. You can use those phones to make outgoing cellular calls, as well.

Your cell phone just has to be within a certain distance of a cordless base for the system to work, Gikas said, so you can leave your cell in the area of your house that gets the best reception. Many of the systems can also work with your land line or Internet phone, allowing you to make or receive calls from either.

Some even work with more than one cell phone at a time. Xtreme Technologies Corp.'s XLink BTTN, for example, works with three.

The systems use Bluetooth technology, so you need to have a cell phone that's Bluetooth-enabled.

Consumer Reports tested three such systems _ the AT&T EP5632, the GE 28129FE2 and the Panasonic KX-TH1212 _ for its January issue. All worked well, Gikas said, although voice quality wasn't quite as good as with a land line.

You can't use the cordless handsets for some cell-phone features, such as speed dialing, text messaging or Web surfing, the article noted. You can, however, pick up a call on multiple extensions at the same time, Gikas said _ a plus when the whole family wants to talk to Grandma together.

It's a good idea to check with your wireless provider to see what services it offers. T-Mobile, for example, offers a T-Mobile @Home plan that gives qualifying cell customers an Internet home phone for an additional $10 a month, plus a one-time cost of $40 for an adapter or router.

With a little research, you just might ring up some savings on your phone service.

That's always a good call.

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© 2009, Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio).