AT&T wants out of the landline business and has asked the FCC to consider authorizing an all-internet phone network, GigaOM reports:

In a 32-page filing, Ma Bell asked the FCC to eliminate regulatory requirements that it support a landline network and to provide a deadline for phasing it out.

The (almost) one in five Americans relying exclusively on a plain old telephone line should prepare to kiss that wall jack goodbye as the major wireline telephone providers back away from that dying (and expensive business). However, AT&T in its filing doesn’t offer a way to bridge the gap for that 20 percent of Americans relying only on landlines, nor does it address what an all-IP future means for the 33 percent of Americans who have access to broadband but do not subscribe (although those broadband laggards might be paying for a digital voice product from a cable provider).

Landline clingers out there, what keeps you from cutting the cord and falling in line with AT&T’s grand design?

AT&T to FCC: Let My Landlines Go! [GigaOM]
(Thanks, Sarah!)

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