Won't Be Able To Get Phone Service From Ma Bell Any More

AT&T keeps on changing. It seems you never can be quite sure what they're going to offer, what they're going to kill, and what they're going to spin off. However, they clearly do realize that the telecom environment they're in these days is quite different than it's been in the past. They've been ramping up their VoIP efforts, and following the ruling that says the RBOCs don't need to share their lines, it appears AT&T has decided to throw all their residential voice eggs into the VoIP basket. Thus, they're no longer selling long distance phone service to residential customers. They will still sell to businesses (where the money is for them anyway) and will still support existing AT&T phone customers, but for the first time, you will no longer be able to get traditional telephone service from AT&T to your home. Of course, between VoIP and the eventual wireless MVNO plan they're going to offer, it looks like AT&T may be the first major telco to realize that many people don't really need a traditional voice line at all any more. Who would have thought that AT&T might lead the way (though, perhaps out of necessity, not vision)?