Re: texst to a landline

On 1/4/2025 9:54 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

Depends. In Spain the change to VoIP is hidden. The telco pretends it is still POTS, and charges for all the POTS services. For example, callid has a price per month. The price structure is that of POTS. And they keep a secret how to configure a true VoIP phone (connected with ethernet or wifi, not copper pair), and do not offer the new services that VoIP allow.
 

   I'm struck by how differently it works in different countries.
In the US I had to give up real landline because they were
charging a very high price. They didn't want to maintain the
wires anymore. So I got a modem and account through my
ISP. They charged $30+/month, trying to double or triple it
occasionally, hoping that I wouldn't notice. So it was basically
VOIP but it was sold as a different service. I now have Vonage.
$16/month. There's a small device to make it work over
ethernet.
   So my ISP could have given me the VOIP for a tiny fee, because
it really was VOIP in the first place. But they pretended that they
were giving me a separate phone line. And I fell for it! It took some
courage to just dump their phone and get straight VOIP.
   The woman I live with still has a phone line through the ISP,
but it might cost more if she dumped it! The prices mean nothing.
Their official prices are very high, then they claim that whatever
we pay is a special deal. They could charge us more for Internet
than for Internet and phone if they want to. And that often happens.
Companies want all the business in the houses they serve.