There are a lot of phone service providers on the market today. It has become a competitive market that has gained a lot of competition.

The Old Days of Phone Service

There was a time when the phone service industry was almost a monopoly of some sorts. AT&T was a big deal. BellSouth was also a big phone company in the south. In the early days of residential phone service people could not find any type of deals outside of the big companies.

Long Distance Charges

There is something about the waves of disgruntled customers that marked a change in how phone service plans worked. For many years it was so difficult to get calls made from one state to another. Long distance was something that phone service companies made lots of money on.

People had to pay severely if they talked for long amounts of time. The analog lines were expensive and customers had no choice if they wanted to make a connection with friends and family that were far away.

Cell phones and Digital Lines

When cell phones came into the picture the digital lines were on the way. There were analog phones in place, but the Internet would eventually move beyond analog. When people moved into the digital age with phones and the Internet there was a change in phone service.

Breakout of Out the Traditional Mold

As more phone users purchased cell phones and begin to use the Internet more there was a lot less in profit from the long distance charges. People were moving from one area to another. Some phone companies completely demised as the cell phone industry took off. Many people cancelled their phone service completely. This was something that people had never done before. People that had cell phones felt that they didn't need 2 phone bills.

The Competition is high

Cable companies jumped in and took on the phone companies like AT&T that still existed. These companies offered bundled packages for cable, Internet and phone service. It was hard to beat that and this caused many other companies in the phone service industry to lose ground.

Wireless Technology and Smart Devices

The growing demand for better Internet service has led to even more declines in residential phone service. Smartphones have almost completely overshadowed the need for phone in the home. Millions of people have smartphones and the apps on these phones are powerful.

Author's Bio: Myke Thomas is a freelance writer, professional blogger, and social media enthusiast. His blog Landlinephoneservice.net focuses on telecom bloggers and technology bloggers. You can follow him on Google+ and Twitter.