[July 10, 2011] Staying wired Tweet SEBRING, Jul 09, 2011 (Highlands Today - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Tonya Marshall wants to get rid of her wired telephone, but she can't hang up. "I am stuck in Comcast bundle hell," said Marshall. And there's another reason. Although Marshall, who lives in Avon Park, has a cell phone, her dad prefers to call on the wired phone that Comcast provides as part of its $90 per month package. If she's not there, he leaves a message. Thinking she could save money by getting rid of the wired phone, Marshall called Comcast. "It would have cost me $50 extra a month to get rid of the stupid home phone," she said. "I'm like, oh, really, I think they're just scamming me. But I have no solution." Who does wired? The wired-phone industry boomed in the 1990s, Slate.com reported in 2008. Even as wireless subscriptions exploded, the number of wired lines spiked 24 percent, from 142.4 million in 1992 to 186.6 million in 1999. Millions of dedicated phone lines were hooked up to fax machines and modems so they could dial up AOL. These days, wired is old school. Only 5.7 million traditional land lines still exist, according to Florida's Public Service Commission. Instead, Florida's 18.1 million residents chat on 21 million cell phones. Some own one, then carry another work cell phone. Bundles are the thing. Nearly every Floridian bundles more services within their telephone bundle, like voice mail and caller ID. Only 160,000 of the 5.7 million land line accounts opt for basic telephone services. Wired works There's one more reason to keep that wired phone, said Lisa Willis, CenturyLink's Central Florida spokeswoman. "It's more likely your land line is going to work after a hurricane because a basic standard line doesn't require electricity." Cell phones can go out if towers are damaged, she said. Although telephone poles or lines may also go down, 99 percent of CenturyTel's phone lines in Highlands County are buried, Willis said. It's just Marshall's opinion, but she thinks that if the phone companies had to unbundle their service, even fewer than one in five Floridians would have wired telephones. She'd like to unbundle her cable channels as well, but to no avail. "And there are some channels I cannot live without," Marshall said: FX and Comedy Central. "I have regretted this decision," she said. You'll want to know By the way, as of July 1, the Florida Legislature is allowing phone companies to raise their rates up to 10 percent per year, no questions asked. The Public Service Commission says that competition will keep phone rates from skyrocketing. Are you among the one-in-five Floridians who still pays for a land line? Why? Highlands Today reporter Gary Pinnell can be reached at [email protected] or (863) 386-5828. To see more of Highlands Today or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.highlandstoday.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Highlands Today, Sebring, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]