This will likely be a complex issue for many customers. Anyone that is relying on their telephone jack, and do not have cable/fiber services will need to upgraded before they can actually do anything. In such a community, the only option is cellular internet, or DSL. In either case, the customer will need to acquire an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter), or a SIP phone. This is because the only role of the phone service jack will be to provide internet until fiber optic is rolled out to the community. The telephone number associated with the DSL service will be transitioned to SIP.
For communities that have both POTS (Plain Ordinary Telephone System) services, and cable internet service will be completely moved to cable internet – therefore allowing Ka-Tel to remove the POTS infrastructure. No new POTS phone accounts will be supported. Instead, the customer will acquire an ATA, or SIP phone. If this is not an option for them, then their phone number can be transferred to cellular. Since many cellular phones these days support dual SIM, then the customer can have his standard cellular phone number + their previous home phone. However, an ATA might work better for the customer. Once fiber is rolled out to the community, cable internet/telephone will be phased out. The original Cable Termination Box will be replaced with an ONT (Optical Network Terminal), and rather than running a coaxial, an RJ45 line will be ran from the ONT to inside the premise.
In communities where Fiber is offered, then any customer relying on a Coaxial connection for their fiber optic will be transitioned to RJ45. Otherwise, customers will be transitioned from Cable Telephone services to SIP, and connect to the customer’s router with an ATA or SIP phone. Coaxial and POTS will be removed and taken offline.