Verizon Fios, Cutting Out Local Phone, Going Local on Channels

Even without local phone service you can still plug up a phone to a jack to call 911 in emergencies. It works the same way as cell phones not in service that are able to call 911 (like the ones donated for battered women).

I can't help with the TV part part but my husband works for TWC and said that the on demand is free for everyone who has their service so maybe it is the same for Verizon, give them a call.

Also we use Vonage which is a VOIP line, it uses the internet as a phone line and it works fine. You wouldn't know it was not a regular phone line. We call international, etc and you can still use the internet and make a phone call at the same time and no problems.

We're actually going to switch to Magic Jack which is also VIOP but much cheaper. The device plugs into a USB port in your computer and costs $39.99 and then it is $20 a year and unlimited calling throughout the USA. Much cheaper than Vonage. We also got one and registered it here in the USA and am sending it to my mum in South Africa that way we can call anytime just like it is within the USA.

Good luck.

p.s. Calling 911 from Vonage is not a problem, just like calling from regular landline.

We have FIOS as well and recently canceled our TV service. You are going to have to have an antanae or a converter box to pick up tv shows. It has been great for us. We get all the loca channels (4,5,8,11,13,21,33,...up to 68...I think) that you get without dish, etc. I don't know what on demand is, but we get PBS and qubo as kid channels. We have considered canceling the home phone as well, but just haven't done so yet. Verizon may try to get you to pay a contract fee if you go completely away from a bundle deal. They waived the charge for me simply because we went from a triple bundle to a double bundle.

No home phone here after three years. Wow - the money savings. $60-$70 a month!

Be sure your cell is always charged and good idea to keep it close while at home for incoming calls, messages.
If you call 911 - you have to be sure to include your address right away - caller id only picks up your cell not your addy like a home phone. We have used our cells for 911 and it was very safe and fast.

We don't miss it at all and we can afford additional perks to our cells with the extra money.

Tammy is correct, 911 will not know where you if you call from your cell. If your kids have to call 911, will they be able to tell them where they are? If you have an emergency and you have the ability the dial the phone but cannot respond verbally, are you willing to take that risk? That is the single reason we have not canceled our landline. It's like insurance, you pay for it but don't use it - but you still need it.

I have Verizon bundle package. For years we did not have a land line then we got verizon and it came with the land line. I can honestly say we have never used it. We dont even have a phone plugged up to it. We have done with only our cells for 5 yrs and we have not had any issues. I also am considering getting ride of the land line to see if it will bring my bill down.

The other poster was correct in saying even if you dont have have telephone service you can still call 911 from a dead land line.

As for On Demand, it works in the way of youonly get the channels that you pay for. Its just like the movie channels if you dont pay for HBO then you can't watch HBO on demand. I dont care what Verizon told you, they are wrong. A friend of mine discovered this a few months ago. She changed to the cheapest one she could which meant she didn't get Nick and Disney any more. She also doesn't get it on demand anymore either.

I would get something in writing from them saying this so this way if it doesn't work and you decide to move your plan back up they dont try to charge you for the change.

C., I have Verizon Fios cable and internet but dropped the local phone from the bundle deal. As for children's programming available on-demand I don't think there is a lot but I'm sure Verizon can answer that question. Dropping my local phone was absolutely painless and actually kind of nice since I no longer get telemarketer calls and don't have to retrieve messages on my home phone. It was an easy way to save some dollars each month. I have a Magic Jack that for just $20 a year (when I got it) allows you to call just about anywhere including other countries and gives you free directory assistance. If you have a computer this is a great option.

If you truly just want local channels, then you can get an antenna to mount on your roof or in your attic. It will pick up the digital signals. We have a digital antenna in addition to our FIOS. There are actually extra channels out there you didn't know about ;) I want to say it runs @ $40. Fry's had it and so did Circuit City. We mounted it ourself on the roof, but I've heard you can do it in your house too. You can test it in your house first to see what direction it needs to point to give you an idea when you are outside. I think ours is mounted on the chimney. Its held up well to storms outside.

If you still want cable channels, I'm afraid I can't give advice on the basic packages.

For the phone, we still have a landline (out of paranoia for a couple of reasons). We cut out the bells and whistles and actually, we are on a what I call a metered rate or a pay-per-call basis. That will reduce your local rate. We can receive as many calls as we want, but, we have to pay for each local call we make...which is ok since we have cell phones. We do no have long distance turned on the phone.

We dropped our landline 3 or 4 years ago and went totally cellular. The only thing I occasionally miss is not being able to fax. I have used an internet faxing service though, which was okay, but most folks are moving from fax and can now receive the same material by e-mail.

As far as FIOS goes, I can't tell you about the local package. We have an internet and TV only bundle which I believe is about $79 for basic. Added to that though, we have HD and the fastest internet connection speed. We pay for three boxes: one HD DVR and 2 set top boxes that allow us to access the recordings on the DVR.

I can also only answer the second part of your question as we have direct tv. We had a landline for the past 6 years and the last 2 years we always had the ringer off. So last year I turned off the landline and we haven't missed it one bit.

Just a thought: With a landline and you had to call 911 they know where you live. With a cell phone you have to tell them where you live. Are you willing to give up the few seconds in a time of an emergency? Can you just have a single phone with no fancy stuff like call waiting and such. What if you cell phone is dead and you have an emergency. We have thought about turning ours off, but decided it wasn't worth it, just for the piece of mind. Yes I do have three chilrend and yes things are tight, but just for the peace of mind we have kept our landline. Just something to think about before you make up your mind.

I can't answer the first part of your question--we have no TV at all, just DVDs and netflix--but we don't miss our landline at all. We first got rid of it about 4 years ago, 'cuz DH and I only ever used our cells. Then we had it reconnected when DD was born, thinking that we needed a landline for 911, etc. But you can call 911 from your cell these days with no problem (they all have GPS for that purpose), and the only people who ever called us on our landline were telemarketers. So first we turned off the ringer, and eventually cut it off entirely. The only babysitter who has ever shown up without a cell is my MIL (who has one, just forgets to carry it), in which case we'll leave one of our cells with her. Really, I don't think you'll miss it--we don't at all!

C.,

We are also considering the same options with FIOS. Our land line would save quite a bit in itself. We're also considering dropping the TV and using internet TV only.

FIOS quoted me $20/month for their stripped down basic package. Plus I would have to keep paying the monthly rental fees on the DVR/boxes for each TV. $$

My understanding of either the digital converter box (no monthly fee + one time box cost + antenna booster??) or online TV (one time equipment fee + no monthly fee unless you do something like Netflix) is that you need to buy separate equipment. The online movies / TV appear to provide a much wider range of options for a similar up-front equipment cost and no or otherwise limited monthly fees.

Just my random two cents.

~C.