Unconnected

I have now been back in Tasmania for over a year. The house that I bought was brand new, and one of the implications of this was that there was no phone connection. I figured I’d get a line put in within the first few months of arriving, although I knew that the main reason for doing so would be to have an internet connection rather than for actually making phone calls. (I won’t say that I am phone-phobic, but I tend not to be a huge maker of phone calls.)

Here I am, however, more than twelve months later, still unconnected. In part this is due to my inertia, but in fact there is a reasoned pragmatism to letting it be: my mobile phone with its plan is more than sufficient for my calling needs (even when I lend it to Scouts at Jamboree for them to call their parents), and the pre-paid mobile wireless broadband device provides adequate internet access. Although I know that the per-GB rate is more expensive than the likely charges for data via a land-line, it is NOT — and by a long shot — when you incorporate the line rental charges as well. I suspect I am about $30 a month better off under my unconnected arrangement than I would be if I had a home phone and data plan. A land-line’s data speeds might be a little better, but the broadband dongle is generally sufficiently quick and it’s only on rare occasions that I notice slowing or congestion. So, for now at least, I shall remain unconnected.

The strangest part about this lack of a land-line is not having anything to write in response to forms’ request for a “Home Phone Number”.