what next?  I use untimed calls - local and national - to keep in touch with family and friends - some without mobiles or email access - at this rate we could lose the power of speech - for heaven's sake - leave us alone - or give us free postage so we can resurrect the art of letter writing!

Why make it harder and harder to communicate? I much prefer to chat on my landline rather than my mobile. It's more comfortable to hold, easier to hear, doesn't drop out and doesn't go flat as quickly.

Grandfathering................ speak English, real language not 'trendoid terminology'

The less you talk the better the goverment like it "The quite australian"

$20 per month and I have unlimited, untimed local and national calls through my mobile.  Haven't had a landline for years and don't want one.  Get with the strength. Act smart, there are great deals out there if you look.

I love my landline and my desktop computer which work so beautifully together - I dislike mobile phones and only use mine as a backup or emergency phone while out.  Believe me I am so very tired and fed up with so many knowall interfering people deciding for us what is or is not wanted by us particularly as their ideas for us are never in our best interests and ALWAYS COST US MORE. 

This article surprises me as I have a plan for broadband and landline that allows me unlimited calls local and nationally for a competitive monthly fee. My mobile is with a different carrier and for $20 each 4 weeks I have unlimited calls local, nationally and internationally. My view is that the Telcos are the ones who set the rules, not the government.

What's next! Pay to use a public Toilet. This whole state of government is getting way off track! This mob must just sit around thinking of ways to relieve people of their hard-earned cash.

I use the landline for calls to family, which tend to be lengthy, as the volume is higher and it is actually easier using a handset than having to be very precise in where I position my mobile on my ear for these calls. 

If they bring in timed local calls I will revert to a landline and they can stick their mobile phone where the sun doesn't shine.

As the NBN replaces conventional telephone lines and internet services, there will shortly come a time when everyone will be making calls via the internet even if they don't know that's what they are doing. Already you have to change your landline when you connect to NBN to one that is compatible. Failure to do so will result in not having phone access at all.

Given then that most plans are going to be data based, there should be no fee at all for seperate call changes. Most Telcos now offer unlimited data for a certain monthly fee. The trick will be in deciding which plan is suitable for you i.e. how much do you use your landline for calls and what is the cost of that in data?

Interesting that because the Legislation may no longer compel the service provider to include un-timed local calls, there's the suggestion that they will become tolled calls.  Nearly all plans for landline and mobile now include unlimited local, intrastate and interstate calls, both in number and duration.

Everyone who has either migrated or been migrated over to the NBN (and eventually that will be all of us) will've been advised that in the event of a power blackout, your home phone becomes in-operable and you must arrange an alternative at your own expense.

I've inherited a plan that includes unlimited local, state wide and national with 30G of data and the mobile for $85/month.  This sets back the callers who offer the preceding for $110/mnth.

Fedup, I spent a bit more on a very good mobile phone and when travelling it essentially replaces two cameras and has very good audio quality and the map and internet access has been very useful.  The Facetime function was of especial value for my elderly mother who was living in a locked down aged care facility with very limited visitor opportunities.  The fact that she was able to see and talk with her daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter and sister, and they with her, less than two weeks before she passed away had a value beyond money for all involved.

Try some different mobile phones and you will find one that is not too uncomfortable when held for extended times, but remember that they can also be used on hands free speaker phone or comfortable blue tooth ear pods.

I also have cordless handsets for the landlines at the addresses that I frequent and with management I have not had problems with batteries going flat.

It's a disgrace, what if someone stutters!!!