No right to a landline?

In at least four states, you no longer have a right to have a landline installed in your home. Speed Matters posted that startling news following a March 28 story in Reuters by columnist David Kay Johnston

Now, Johnston has emphasized his point in a Reuters video entitled "AT&T, Verizon try to put end to landline telephone era." As he points out, "AT&T and Verizon are quietly getting the law rewritten the way they want it."

The two-minute video repeats the point of his column: that this monumental change in the law has happened, and is happening, with no coverage - until now. As he says:

"They've done it so quietly that the laws have been repealed in North Carolina, in Texas, Wisconsin in Florida. A whole bunch of other states have pending legislation that would do the same thing. And there haven't been any news reports about it until I did a column for Reuters."

Speed Matters shares Mr. Johnston's concern and also his conclusion that we need "a policy that recognizes plain and clear that having a telephone is very valuable, not just to the economy but to people's health and their safety."

Telecoms quietly waging war on the right to a phone (Speed Matters, Mar. 29, 2012)

An end to phones in every home? (Reuters, Mar. 28, 2012)

AT&T, Verizon try to put end to landline telephone era (Reuters video, Apr. 6, 2012)

Landline rules frustrate telecoms (Washington Post, Apr. 12, 2012)