[OT}Digital Phone vs. Analog phone

[lists at prwdot.org (Peter R. Wood)]

Hi Jerry,

ATT called us about just this offer last night. If we add digital phone to
our service, we will get a $5 discount on phone and internet. I ran the
numbers, and it works out to be a slightly better deal for us to have all
the services with ATT versus Verizon for phone and ATT for cable modem and
tv:

Current Arrangement:
Telephone from Verizon - $31.47/month (includes tax and fees, not
including long distance charges)
Basic (analog) Cable TV + Internet from ATT - $58.85/month
Current total for phone, cable, and internet: $90.33

Proposed Arrangement:
Telephone, Basic (analog) Cable TV, and Internet from ATT - $78.57

Savings = $11.76/month

Note also that we would switch to AT&T's long distance, which is
5cents/min for local toll and 7cents/min for out of state. So that will
save us additional money in the long run over the Timeless plan we
currently have with Verizon.

Additionally, the rep told me that AT&T's local calling area is larger
than the Verizon calling area by 5 miles in each direction. Not sure if
that is true, but if so, it would mean we could call more locations in the
Boston area for free.

With the switch to ATT for phone, we will be getting some additional
features for free, ones we don't currently have, such as call waiting, and
call waiting caller id (we have regular caller ID for $6.36/mo from
Verizon).

ATT can port our current phone number from Verizon, and we can use the
same phones and the same phone jacks we currently have, so we won't need
to make any changes there.

As far as the other questions about reliability and quality of the line, I
don't know as I do not currently have the digital phone service. We are
scheduled for an install on January 18, so I'll have to see. But we have
not had any problems with our Verizon line here in Beverly.

Peter