Quote Originally Posted by Speedway View Post
As a Pensioner the land line is an unnecessary expense that I can do without and my only choices for internet are 1. Dial Up. Super slow, useless. 2. Mobile, only with Telstra, super expensive and 3. Satellite, affordable with a few choices. As for some of the farmers the cost of getting and maintaining the line from the road to the house is prohibitive. There are some around here that still do not even have mains power let alone landline phones.
Keith.
Absolutely. My son is in a similar position and simply cannot pay for a land line that he also cannot afford anyway. Many of his generation are simply ignoring wired telecommunications and everything they do to connect with the world is either wireless or via satellite.

Your dilemma was brought home to me when I was doing my wool classing certificate. The distance some had to pay for land line cables to be extended to their location was just ridiculous. I understand the concept of "user pays" but governments ought to recognise that not subsidising services to rural locations runs counter to their often reiterated desire for decentralisation of populations.