CNN —More people who are still using telephone landlines will soon need to decide if they want to finally hang up on their service. That’s part of a sweeping move by phone service providers to replace older copper wire-based telephone systems lines, also known as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), with faster and more advanced technology that doesn’t work with landlines. In the United States, the shift away from copper landlines will most likely impact people over age 65 and small business owners. “Traditional landline telephone service is the most dependable communications tool currently available in rural communities and is vital to reliably accessing 9-1-1,” he said. Because phone service workers will need to be deployed during the removal process, this could extend the completion time.

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Persons: CNN —, “ We’ve, “, ”, Lisa Pierce, Patrick Blacklock, ” Pierce, Will McKeon, White, ” McKeon Organizations: CNN, Verizon, Old Telephone Service, landlines, UK, Consumers, California Public Utilities Commission, Gartner, California, Federal Communications Commission, Forrester Research Locations: California, France, California ”, United States, Pennsylvania, Rural County