landlines

Landlines, or fixed-line telephone service, describe voice communication established through a physical circuit between a subscriber's device and a switching system. Traditionally they run over copper twisted-pair wires connected to a local exchange as part of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). A landline uses the local loop to deliver voice from the customer premises to a central office, where calls are routed through a network of switches.

The system originated in the late 19th century with the commercial deployment of the telephone. Early networks used manual switchboards, then automated exchanges, and later digital signaling and multiplexing. The standard consumer service is Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), which carries analog voice and uses dual-tone or pulse dialing. The service depends on a dedicated physical connection between the user and the network.

Power and reliability are notable characteristics. Traditional landlines are powered through the line by the central office, which allows phones to operate during some local power outages, unlike many cordless or mobile devices. They require a physical connection and are generally robust, though they remain vulnerable to major line faults, aging copper, and natural hazards that affect the local network infrastructure.

Modern trends include migration to fiber and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as voice service moves onto IP-based networks. The PSTN remains in use for legacy systems and regulatory reasons, with emergency services such as E911 relying on fixed-location addressing. Landlines continue to offer stable voice quality, wide coverage, and simple operation, but lack mobility and often provide limited bandwidth for data compared with modern broadband services.