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Reliable home phone service in South Dakota that doesn't require internet
State population: 908,414
Total number of households with telephone service: 356,887
Households 65 years and over with telephone service available: 98,621
Number of senior citizens: 219,928
Percentage of state population that are seniors: 24.21%
Number of senior citizens with a landline: 120,960
Number of cell towers in the state: 215
*Data is estimated from the 2021 American Community Survey Data and 2022 US Census Estimates.
If you're looking for traditional landline phone service in South Dakota the type of phone service provided through copper wires and phone jacks in your wall you won't be able to find it in South Dakota for much longer.
Traditional service providers in South Dakota such as WOW!, Spectrum, Xfinity, AT&T, WOW!, and Frontier, don't offer copper wire-based landline phone service.
Instead, they offer internet-based VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service; that means if your internet is slow or goes down (or you don't have internet), you can't use your phone.
In fact, by a 2019 FCC order (FCC Order 10-721A), traditional landline phone service will not be available anywhere in the country starting on August 2, 2022. All copper wire landline service provided by traditional carriers in the country will be replaced with internet-based service, such as FiOS or other VoIP providers.
The main landline service provider in South Dakota is Community Phone, which offers basic landline service without internet. Other providers inlcude WOW!, Spectrum, Xfinity, AT&T, WOW!, and Frontier. All of these either require an internet connection, or a bundle with cable or internet services.
Yes. Community Phone is the only landline service provider in South Dakota that does not require the internet to work. Community Phone works by connecting your landline phone to cell towers, rather than through the internet.
Instead of copper wire or internet-based phone service, Community Phone provides landline phone service in South Dakota through your local cell towers.
In South Dakota, there are 215 cell towers located throughout the state. Community Phone will connect your landline phone to the cell tower with the strongest connection.
Overall, South Dakota has an average of 73.83% coverage across the four major carriers.
According to cellularstatus.com, AT&T has strong coverage in South Dakota with 98.40%, while Verizon covers 98.10%.
Roughly 20,278.17 square miles of South Dakota have access to cell coverage, meaning Community Phone service will work almost anywhere in the state.
South Dakota is the 40th state for cell reception ahead of Idaho, Oregon, Kentucky, and West Virginia, but behind Colorado.
This may have been true in the past, but not anymore. Because copper wire is being phased out across the country, providers have left their lines in a state of disrepair. That means there are frequent service interruptions, even at the best of times. It also means that during a power outage, copper wire phone service is very likely to go down as well. Major providers are much more concerned with maintaining and improving their wireless towers and providing quality, consistent cellular service, and are not interested in even maintaining their copper wire service as they phase it out completely in 2022.
No, there are no providers in South Dakota who still provide copper wire landline phone service. Traditional landline phone service will not be available anywhere in the country starting August 2, 2022, according to FCC Order 10-721A.
Reliable home phone service in South Dakota that doesn't require internet
State population: 908,414
Total number of households with telephone service: 356,887
Households 65 years and over with telephone service available: 98,621
Number of senior citizens: 219,928
Percentage of state population that are seniors: 24.21%
Number of senior citizens with a landline: 120,960
Number of cell towers in the state: 215
*Data is estimated from the 2021 American Community Survey Data and 2022 US Census Estimates.
