A landline, or fixed line, is telephone service provided to a subscriber via cable or wire, i.e. metal conductors or optical fiber. The term differentiates a telephone service from the now ubiquitous wireless service. A landline allows multiple telephones to operate simultaneously on the same phone number. It is loosely described as plain old telephone service (POTS).
Landline services are traditionally provided via the outside plant of a telephone company, consisting of analogue copper wire originating from a telephone company's central office, or wirencenter. Landline service often includes services that use Internet Protocol via broadband services.