It's foolish to ditch the landline altogether. During large-scale power outages and other such events (such as 9/11), cell phones and other wireless services can be rendered useless. And I would never switch to "cable phone" because our cable goes out every time we have a good thunderstorm. Landline service is *very* reliable compared to the alternatives.

I agree that the phone companies are crooks, but I would strongly recommend keeping at least *some* sort of basic landline service in your home. And don't forget to keep at least one hard-wired phone around; the cordless models don't work during a blackout! (I couldn't reach my parents for two days during the 2003 blackout because they had switched all their phones to cordless).

Hey New York Dave, I know the phone companies are crooks. I can save you money on your phone service using my provider. Just ask me I will let you know to save money.