A land line phone is known by many names, like a home phone, a landline, fixed-line or a wire line. All these names refer to the phone system physically attached to a home through a fiber optical phone line or a metal wire. This is the prime distinguishing feature of fixed land line phone services from the mobile cellular lines that use radio waves for transmission. In the year 2013, it was reported by the CIA that approximately1.263 billion main telephone lines were present in the world.

The increasing number of updates in the area of digital technology and the convenience offered by a simple switch to cellular or wireless technology and internet based services that are more easily available than fixed line services has led to the decrease in the number of people subscribing to landline phone services.

A fixed phone line is not a mobile phone line, but it can be converted into a cordless device by placing the main operating device at a fixed place through a line. A fixed line phone usually refers to the operation of wireless devices or systems in fixed locations in homes, and large businesses and these devices obtain their electrical energy from the primary utility electricity board. This is quite unlike the portable wireless or mobile wireless services that are battery operated.

Fixed locations can utilize the portable and mobile systems, but chances of the bandwidth and efficiency being compromised are high. Battery powered wireless systems are often used as backup systems in the form of portable or mobile devices in the event of a natural disaster or power blackout.

Therefore, it can be stated that the term land line is a dedicated line that connects two points with the help of a dedicated physical cable.