California seeks to block AT&T’s move away from copper phone lines

A California agency said on Thursday it has asked a U.S. court and the Federal Communications Commission to ‌reject AT&T’s request to stop offering traditional copper wire phone service to ‌new customers.

The California Public Utilities Commission said AT&T was trying to get out of its obligations as a ​carrier of last resort and to ensure basic service.

The state agency said in a court filing its rules “are explicitly technology-neutral; it does not matter whether the carrier uses copper wire, wireless, Voice over Internet Protocol, or any other type of technology, so long as ‌it meets the standard for ‘basic ⁠service.'”

California requires the U.S. wireless carrier to spend $1 billion annually to maintain a century-old telephone network that few use, AT&T said, adding ⁠the network now serves just 3% of households in AT&T’s California territory.

“Although AT&T asserts that every customer affected by its proposed discontinuances will have access to replacement services, it does not ​adequately ​demonstrate that to be true,” the CPUC said.

AT&T ​declined to comment on the ‌CPUC filings.

AT&T asked the FCC for permission to discontinue traditional phone service in parts of California where it has faster, more reliable service available. It also filed a petition with the FCC to declare that federal standards preempt California’s rules that effectively require AT&T to power, repair and sell traditional phone service, even after the FCC has ‌authorized the service to be phased out.

California said ​AT&T wants to discontinue residential and business telephone ​service provided over legacy copper-based telephone ​network landlines across portions of the 360 wire centers in California ‌effective in June 2027. AT&T says the ​360 wire centers ​affect approximately 184,000 residential customers and 15,000 business customers.

The state said it is currently considering updates to California’s Carrier of Last Resort rules but added the ​goal of modernized networks cannot “override ‌our obligation to protect California’s most vulnerable citizens, many of whom still ​rely on the functionality that AT&T’s wireline network provides.” Reuters