hRex,

You guys must get better Verizon rate up there. My last bill is laying right here. I see it's $33.89. I have a "no nothing" bill. No caller i.d., no message service, no long dx...nothing...just a phone. BUT-then I have to have the long dx supplier also. For me, that's AT&T. I get about 500 calls/week by other companies suggesting I switch to theirs. Maybe they're all right..but I'd a lot of switching if that were the case. Anyway, we don't really call anywhere very often. Our daughter lives in ATL, but she calls here on some kind of free long dx minutes cell phone she has. But still, our long dx bill runs about the same as the local bill.

So-the 2 of them combined = a lot more than $39 with all the features. I agree I have seen cable internet down for a few hrs at a time. That would be a concern. There is always cell phone backup....though cell service is terrible here. You can talk on cell phone sometimes from withIN our house. So, if cable (soon-to-be phone) service is down, you could possibly use cell to notify them.