Please split phone service from fiber

[Guest]

Last, regarding the statistics of who uses land lines, those are national stats. I'm guessing the stats for SF would be different.

Sure, and my block in my city has probably a different demographic than "S.F." Sonic operates throughout California so they have a vested interest in knowing how their entire customer base's usage is.

[dane]

Wouldn't it still be a Telecom company if they are offering phone service without it being mandatory? We all know that AT&T offers internet without forcing a land-line on their customers. Not that I want to promote AT&T, but this puts Sonic at a disadvantage to reach potential customers.

I think Sonic has a lot of good going for them and I would gladly pay the $40 (vs AT&T's $20-25), but getting taxed $12.94 (SF) in addition is too much and frustrating for a service not needed or wanted.

I had to dig to find out how much taxes and fees are. Sonic never makes it clear when ordering from their homepage. That's very deceptive and I expected better from them.

Yes, we would still be a telecommunications provider even if not all customers received voice service, it's not mandatory that we bundle the product into a single offering, but that has been our approach since 2010. Clearly landline service is under pressure, as fewer consumers want a home phone (despite this being earthquake country, instant E911 address info including floor or unit, etc). We're considering other options, which is why I asked about level of interest in a Sonic Internet+DISH TV bundle, that's an option we are considering.

We've also worked hard to make the landline as useful and valuable as possible. Sonic is the only landline carrier in America that includes free automated spam robocall blocking - enabled for every customer. We have also expanded our calling features, now offering unlimited international calling to fixed lines in 60 countries around the globe, including Mexico.

Regarding finding out the details on taxes and fees, we do publish far more info on that than any other carrier I've found! We even provide per-city estimates which take into account all applicable federal, state and local taxes, and fees. You can find that here: https://www.sonic.com/taxesfees

[mfeemster]

Thanks Dane, it sounds like you have indeed put a lot of work into the phone service. I think that is great for people who actually need it. My main point is that I would like to be able to have the *option* whether to include it or not.

Keep up the great work, the fiber service is really nice.

[nebernard]

Any interest in an Internet+DISH bundle? That's something we have been considering.

I, for one, would definitely be interested in an Internet/DISH bundle.

I agree that you have made the phone service a really nice one, however paying the monthly SF taxes on it (which I realize is not the fault of Sonic) when it's not really a necessity for me has me wishing the money were just going to something I would utilize more... ie a good TV bundle.

And to the point made by Guest about a market for phone service: I would bet dollars to doughnuts that those with landline service aren't overall going to be the target market for fiber internet. Likewise, those who have made the leap from landline service would be much more inclined and interested in obtaining fiber.

It made more sense bundled with the DSL service, however now it seems odd to have a cutting edge internet service being bundled with a telephone service which more and more people are leaving.

[guest]

Agreed with OP! taxes and fees on the voice service brings unnecessary cost on the customers who aren't going to make use of the phone line. =\

please consider allowing customers to have the gigabit service only at the $40 rate.

[andsonic]

Agreed with OP! taxes and fees on the voice service brings unnecessary cost on the customers who aren't going to make use of the phone line. =\

please consider allowing customers to have the gigabit service only at the $40 rate.

I understand what people are saying, but as an FTTN customer, I would point out that Fusion Gigabit (at "$40" a month) costs less than half of what competing gigabit services from Google & AT&T cost. You can't compare to Comcast or AT&T Uverse, as they are different slower products. Very few cities/neighborhoods actually are being offered Gigabit FTTH in the U.S.

[parker_day]

I would be interested in a skinny bundle like Internet + Sling (owned by Dish) with no phone.

[guest]

I would be interested in a skinny bundle like Internet + Sling (owned by Dish) with no phone.

This is actually a great idea! Would be interested as well

[craig.langman]

I want real phone. I don't want this VOIP that craps out whenever there is a router or power glitch and caller-id that only works when it feels like it. I want a real landline that always works loud and clear like they have for decades, regardless if my power or internet is working. I definitely don't want to use my tiny quiet annoying brain-tumor-causing reception-dependent charge-dependant cellphone (that nobody else can pickup at the same time) when I'm in my own home - I'll only put up with it if I'm out and have to make a call, in which case it's far more convenient than a payphone (which are hard to find these days anyway). I find it very annoying they advertise it as if it's a real landline phone when in fact its basically just skype with a dialtone box, except I can't even use it from my smartphone (which would make it a slightly better service). My DSL bundle from sonic had a real phone, but when I switched to FTTN I lost the real phone and now have this voip crap. I said I don't want it and want a real phone line upgrade, but they don't offer that, and still make me pay to rent their dialtone converter box even if I buy a real phone from line AT&T.

And I'm definitely in the market for gigabit. But no desire for any pay tv, my antenna (and tivo) work fine.

[virtualmike]

I find it very annoying they advertise it as if it's a real landline phone when in fact its basically just skype with a dialtone box, except I can't even use it from my smartphone (which would make it a slightly better service).

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