Cable is cheaper and faster than phone lines, and more cable companies will also offer local telephone service.

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Likewise, traditional local and long-distance telephone service over the copper network is being displaced by better technology from cable and fiber.

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And growing beyond 10, 000 or so subscribers means quickly (and expensively) adding more local access numbers (POPs), telephone lines and modems while managing to keep service levels acceptable.

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Problems with a new non-emergency NHS telephone advice line have prompted Shropshire health chiefs to divert calls back to a local service.

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