Question

[DS0816]

Hello, everyone!

I am going to be buying a house this year. And, as a current DirecTV customer, I'd like to keep my current programming service once I've made the move. It is my intention to do without active home telephone service. My reason for this is predicated on the ridiculous cost[s] of just the bare-bones service within the Detroit area ($25 for local calls, most of which is actually representative of miscellaneous telecommunications and FCC itemizations :nono2: ). Therefore, I shall use my cellular phone.

My question: With DBS companies requiring subscribers to always be connected to a land-based telephone line, does that mean I am required to have an active, home telephone service going in order to have such services?

For everyone willing to respond, I thank you in advance. :righton:

[Steve Mehs]

Don't worry about it, In most cases the phone line requirement isn't enforced. With Dish Network it's practically not enforced at all and with DirecTV it only enforced in certian situations like if you have NFL ST but it depends. The only reason to have a phone like connected is to order PPV via remote. With Dish I've been phoneline free for nearly 5 years never had a problem at all, and I know many people both in real life and online who have DirecTV and had it for years and never had a phone line connected and have no problems. Best of luck with the purchace on your new house! Enjoy! :)

[Cyclone]

Likely if you check the front of your white pages, they have the rates of available phone service. You can likely get a incoming only land line phone for under $15 a month. It has limites on the number of outgoing calls you make before you start to pay $.30 a call or some other cheap rate.

It always good security to have a land line active in your house. 911 is one reason, power outages can be another (note: always have a non-AC powered phone somewhere in your house ie. not a cordless). And of course backup internet and DBS are other suitable reasons.

[dtcarson]

We keep debating tossing our phone line, for the exact reasons you mention. We both have cell phones; hers has free long distance and unlimited 'afterhours' minutes; mine is paid for by my company, so it couldn't be our main one, but certainly would work for an emergency. We have the minimum services on our land line, which is 25 dollars/month, not counting any long distance calls; at least 10 dollars of which are various taxes, fees, and 'recovery fees' [where the phone co directly passes on their cost of doing business to us the consumer, without even hiding it in their prices.]
But we never pulled the line yet--thats one of those things that we, at least, are so used to having, even if we don't use it all that much.
I am actually looking into a new VoIP provider called Packet8.net, which offers unlimited local and long distance for 19.95 a month, over your broadband connection, using a regular telephone. http://www.packet8.net/ , which could also have the satellite plugged into it, I would guess.
To directly refer to the topic: I haven't ever had any of my three recievers plugged into a telephone line. [Caveat: I have only had Dish for about six months.] Also, I have absolutely no interest in any pay per view, so that's not an issue for me.

[DS0816]

With DirecTV's web site, I have discovered that I can change my programming and also order pay-per-view programming without incurring additional charges. Would I still be able to order PPVs online if I do without an active home telephone service and avoid a five-dollar surcharge?