Who is the phone provider for Philadelphia area? (house, purchase)

[FromGA]

Who is the provider for basic / wired telephone service for the Philadelphia area (I am in Bucks county)? Not asking about the comcast / fios type of service. Who is the local Baby Bell? Or should I contact AT&T for the basic phone service?

Thanks you.

[pcity]

Verizon is the plain-old telephone service provider for most of the Philly area.

[PacoMartin]

Verizon price for Plain Old Telephone Service: $59.99/month for 1 yr. plus taxes & fees.
Unlimited local, regional & nationwide long distance residential calling Home Voice Mail, Caller ID and more.

I pulled down the Verizon Line and ripped the box off the house. I can't imagine what would make you want to purchase a phone service at that rate.

If you purchase unlimited phone service (and nothing else) from the cable company it is $19.99/mo for the first year (up $5 per year for the next two years). If for some reason you have security or medical features that require a wired phone as opposed to wireless, then this rate is less than half the Verizon rate.

[RightonWalnut]

Verizon or AT&T

[FromGA]

Thanks everyone. I was reading about radiation (cell phone, wireless modem, ....) and trying to see what the lowest radiation option would be. I will shelve that idea for a while! Everyone seems to be going the wireless route.

Even AT&T seems to be out of POTS and offering something different:
AT&T Home Phone Service - U-verse Voice - Digital Phone Plans
I wonder if they actually offer plain old service any more.

I don't think I will make any change at this time.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by FromGA

Thanks everyone. I was reading about radiation (cell phone, wireless modem, ....) and trying to see what the lowest radiation option would be. I will shelve that idea for a while! Everyone seems to be going the wireless route.
I don't think I will make any change at this time.

Verizon is required by law to offer POTS. They just don't want to do it.

A modem is not wireless. You can get Voice over Internet Protocol service and have nothing but wired phones, it's just that most people want wireless (or at least cordless).

Cellular is in the (900/1,800/1,900 MHz or 850/1,800/1,900 MHz) frequency bands.
Wireless is usually in the 3.6, 5.0 and 60 GHz frequency bands.

Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT 6.0), is primarily used for creating cordless phone systems. The frequency is 1.9 GHz

The 6.0 at the end of DECT is purely a marketing term. The older cordless systems operated at 2.4 and 5.8 GHz, so executives felt that DECT 1.9 would be more accurate, but it would create confusion with customers who associate larger numbers with something better. Actually lower frequencies penetrate walls easier, so a cordless system with DECT usually carries through the house better than wireless.

Generally, if you want to minimize radiation exposure, and it is too much trouble to go all wired you should work with Wireless as opposed to Cellular or Cordless. Primarily because you don't put wireless access points near your head.