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Originally Posted by ballaratdragons
Geez Gary, your local Telstra doesn't look after you folk.
Almost everyone around here still has a Telstra rented phone. We had ours replaced only about 3 months ago with a new one.
I don't even know of anyone without a Telstra rented phone.
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Hi Ken,
Happy New Year!
There will be some of us here in the city having visions of you guys having
to climb the phone pole to make a call like in that old TV show,
Green Acres.
Suffice to say it must be chalk and cheese compared to here with regards the
handsets. When you walk into a Dick Smith store or scan their handset
offerings online, the only ones that are still corded and that require no
external power pack are the very cheapest ones at $14.94 and $29.98.
Compared to the cost of the monthly rental, it doesn't take them long to
work out cheaper.
Quote:
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"Getting very rare" ?????
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These days in the cities, the number of people who have canceled the
fix line service in favor of mobile has increased. Then for many with fixed lines,
fancier wireless handsets here that support features such as in-built number
directories, calling number display and so on and so forth have become ubiquitous.
Especially the DECT type with multiple handsets where city children demand one
in every bedroom and it better be 5GHz and the latest styling otherwise they will
die of embarrassment when their friends come around, for having such
uncool parents with daggy old phones.
So much so that if you go into a Dick Smith store here in the northern
part of Sydney and ask for one of the type that does not require a power pack,
the young sales person might be likely to say, "I'll see if we still have some out
the back".
Quote:
 A home phone that needs electricity to function!! I've never seen one. What dip-stick invented that stupid idea??? 
How do you call for emergency if the power is out? Very dumb idea!
If the rest of Oz has these 'powered' phones, then I'm glad to be 'in the country and technologically left behind'.
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Speaking for ourselves, we have the luxury of UPS to keep the phones
and internet going during blackouts, but indeed it is a major failing of the
newer style of phones. In the city, the urgency is perhaps not as great for many
because of mobile coverage or the ability to run next door to the neighbours.
In rural areas, the reliability of getting dial tone even in a power outage
is far more important compared to many city dwellers.