AT&T plans to eliminate its traditional landline phone service across nearly all U.S. states in its service area by 2029, according to an official announcement.
However, California won’t be affected by the decision after Golden State regulators earlier this year rejected a proposal from AT&T to be relieved of its “Carrier of Last Resort Obligation (COLR),” which requires them to maintain their copper-based network.
The wireless carrier has said its copper wire infrastructure is antiquated, but maintaining it is costly, and better service is available through fiber and wireless broadband networks.
However, consumer advocates nationwide have objected to removing traditional phone service. They say access to basic landlines is important for the country’s most vulnerable people, including senior citizens who don’t want to use cellphones, consumers who can’t afford cell service, and those in rural areas who may not have good access to cell or broadband internet.
Why did California regulators reject AT&T’s proposal to stop landlines?
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) rejected AT&T’s request to stop providing landlines in California because:
- AT&T didn’t show that there were replacement providers that could serve as COLR
- AT&T didn’t prove that alternative providers met the COLR definition
- The CPUC also considered public comments about the unreliability of mobile service.
The proposed rejection “underscores the critical importance of ensuring universal access to essential telecommunications services for all Californians,” the commission said in its statement. “As the designated COLR, AT&T plays a pivotal role in providing reliable telephone service to communities across the state.”
The commission added that while the communications company said mobile wireless and other services could fill the void, “the CPUC found AT&T did not meet the requirements for COLR withdrawal. Specifically, AT&T failed to demonstrate the availability of replacement providers willing and able to serve as COLR, nor did AT&T prove that alternative providers met the COLR definition.”
AT&T, in a statement, said it was disappointed in the proposed rejection. Competition for other more reliable phone alternatives is robust, said Marc Blakeman, president of AT&T California. Blakeman said that less than 5% of households in California that AT&T serves still use copper-based landline phone service.
Consumer advocates point to the need for electricity for most alternatives to traditional landlines and note that consumers can still use their landlines when there is no electricity.
Elevators, security systems, faxes rely on landlines
“Customers may be losing a choice for reliable service,” said Regina Costa, telecommunications policy director for The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in California.
Costa, who also chairs the telecommunications committee for the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, said copper wire technology landline service is the most reliable format for calls because the phone lines still work when there is a power outage, earthquake, or other natural disaster.
Many residential landline customers also rely on copper wire lines to connect services such as security systems, and businesses use them to connect things such as elevator phones to landlines, Costa said. Businesses would likely incur significant costs if they upgraded their equipment to be compatible with newer phone technology, she said.
Costa said she doesn’t oppose telecommunications companies creating new, modern networks.
“But if you’re going to replace the old network, you have to make sure the new network will work when people need it the most and that it is reliable, that it doesn’t die in a power outage,” Costa said. It’s essential, for instance, that people in an emergency have direct access to emergency responders so they can share their location, she added.
Alternatives to landlines, such as cellphones or Voice Over Internet Protocol (voIP) phones, cost more than the traditional basic phone service and require good cell or internet service and electricity, advocates have said.
Costa said AT&T’s announcement that it has set a date to eliminate its copper wire network is a “slippery slope.”
“AT&T is one of the two largest telephone companies in the United States, and they are about to launch a full-court press to get support for this,” Costa said. She anticipates other telecommunications providers who still provide copper wire services to follow suit.
Why does AT&T want to eliminate its copper wire network?
The AT&T copper wire network is 70 years old and it’s becoming increasingly unreliable, said Susan Johnson, executive vice president of wireline transformation and supply chain for AT&T. “It doesn’t do well in water or during storms and “copper value is up, so we are experiencing a lot of copper theft,” she said.
The network is also expensive to maintain and uses a lot of electricity and energy, Johnson said, adding it is not good for the environment to expend resources on a technology that only 5% of residential customers and 5% of commercial customers use.
AT&T’s modern network is more reliable, she said.
AT&T had previously set a 2020 deadline for eliminating the copper wire network, but the industry wasn’t ready, said Johnson.
The company has a new product called AT&T Phone – Advanced, which Johnson said is a landline alternative for customers who don’t want or need a broadband connection. It can be used with an existing landline phone, plugs into a jack and connects to AT&T’s wireless network as an alternative. The cost is $45 a month and an average residential landline package typically costs about $80 a month, she said.
The product is compatible with equipment that needs a landline, like fax machines, medical monitoring devices, alarm systems, and elevators, Johnson said.
Do people still use landlines? How many in California?
Fewer telephone companies are offering basic landline services because the utilities say the copper wire infrastructure is old and expensive to maintain, and the demand for landlines is low as consumers shift toward mobile and other services.
The number of households nationwide with landlines is dwindling, as USA TODAY previously reported. As of May 2024, about 35% of California residents, or roughly 10 million customers, still use landlines, while 65% use mobile services or don’t have phones.
Since 2007, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey has tracked estimates of how many U.S. households have wireless services and nothing else.
More than three-quarters of Americans live in homes without landlines: 76% of adults and 87% of children, as of the end of 2023, according to the agency’s most recent report.
That data also corresponds with findings from the research firm Gartner, which estimated that in 2024 about 80% of all individual voice connections would be through mobile phones and 20% through landlines. That 20% represents about 88 million lines nationwide, Lisa Pierce, Gartner research vice president, has told USA TODAY.
