In 1992 the explosion in popularity of the Internet created an avalanche of connection services to the home.  Today most homes are equipped with multiple phone lines, High Speed Internet Connections, Cable or Satellite TV, and often 1 or more Cell Phones.  As you can imagine the cost of all these connections adds up.  Moving forward there is growth among urban areas to install fiber to the home although a mass deployment is still years away.  Most homeowners lack the technical knowledge to make the most cost effective decisions in their potpourri of services and often overlook the best services for the money.

To make the most intelligent decisions with which services provide the best solutions depends on what services are available.  To put it simply, all wired connections take bandwidth.  The more the bandwidth a connection offers, the more cost effective it will likely be.

Roughly half of all homes in America have a coaxial cable connection from a cable television service provider that also serves as a broadband internet connection.  While cable TV may be more expensive then Satellite Dish in some areas when it's combined as a broadband internet connection it's tough to beat the economics that cable can offer with combined services.  One reason for that is the advent of Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone systems.

VoIP services have been coming on strong since 2001.  First to the business enterprise, and now to the home.  This is especially important if you make more then $10 a month in Long Distance calls.  Where the old "Tip & Ring" based telephone structure has to charge more for a calls outside of a small area, a VoIP system doesn't really care where the calls are routed, the cost is the same.  Some VoIP carriers do charge more for intercontinental calls because they can, not because the have to.

Consider this;  it takes about 100 times more more bandwidth to download a video from FOX or CNN then it does to carry on a near CD quality telephone conversation - and people from around the world are doing just that at no extra cost.  There are free VoIP systems that can be downloaded to a PC with speakers and a microphone, and yes you'll even get a phone number where people can dial you up.

Better yet, there are several VoIP service providers who rent a special Modem that connect between your Broadband Cable and your home telephone wiring to enable you to disconnect the telephone company.  Federal Laws that support Local Number Portability allow you to take your existing area code and phone number and "plug" it into the modem so you're telephone number remains the same.

Most VoIP service providers also provide the same Class Services at no cost like Caller ID, Answering Service, Call Waiting and Call Forwarding.  No need for Extended Area Service, and your Long Distance bills are a thing of the past.  And it gets even better;  Most VoIP services are lower cost then basic telephone bills.

Changing over to one of the top 3 VoIP phone services results in over $600 a year savings with improved clarity and unlimited long distance.