Maybe I’m showing my age, but growing up, I grew up with landlines as my definition of a “phone”. Plugged into the wall, sat in one spot of the house, and someone on another landline could eavesdrop. Not the best, but they worked. Sure, mobile phones had been invented at that point, but they were hardly mainstream things.
The thing is, landlines still have value since they’re the only way to quickly contact a particular location, rather than a particular person. In fact, about 70 million people in the US still use a landline. AT&T makes up a big portion of that, and since the carrier is retiring its copper network in a few years, it’s urging you to switch to Phone-Advanced.
AT&T’s Copper Network For Landlines Will Go Extinct In 2029
A landline doesn’t work by wirelessly communicating with cell phone towers, the way that your smartphone does. Nope, it uses the ancient technique of metallic cables—in AT&T’s case, copper cables—running under or above ground to communicate with the nearest telephone exchange, where your call is then routed to the recipient. It’s not exactly the most cutting-edge tech for 2024.
Tens of millions of Americans still use landlines though, with AT&T serving a big part of that number across 21 states in the country. However, if you have a traditional landline on AT&T’s network, you need to know that the company plans to retire its copper landline network in 2029.
That doesn’t mean that landlines are going for good though. That’s exactly why the company is encouraging you to embrace the modernity of its Phone-Advanced service.
The Carrier’s Phone-Advanced Service Will Keep Your Landline Alive, Using A Mobile Network Instead
There’s still a lot of time before 2029, but AT&T doesn’t think you need to wait until then. Phone-Advanced works entirely independently of its copper network. It taps into AT&T’s mobile network, just like a 5G smartphone does, and how it achieves this is rather interesting.
You get a router-like device that you put in your home. It plugs into power and your existing landline plugs into it. It has two antennas that it uses to tap into AT&T’s wireless network and then routes that to your landline phone. It’s an interesting and modern solution and you don’t even need to buy a new phone or change your number.
Here Are The Perks Of Phone-Advanced Over Traditional Landlines
To me, one of the coolest parts is that Phone-Advanced brings a lot of perks that you simply cannot get with the analog nature of a traditional landline.
For one, you’ll still be able to make calls in a power outage, thanks to a 24-hour battery in the router, so that’s not a loss for this digital solution. You also get spam call detection and blocking, as well as compatibility with fax machines and your home alarm. It should even cost less than the copper landline service does, so there’s very little to hate.
At the moment, 16,000 AT&T customers are using Phone-Advanced and the company definitely wants to see that number skyrocket.
