AT&T wants to ditch Cali copper phone lines to save billions

AT&T plans to invest $19 billion in California through the end of the decade to expand fiber to more than 4 million additional households and businesses. The company wants to retire traditional copper phone infrastructure and replace it with newer fiber connections. AT&T filed a lawsuit against state officials to overturn California rules requiring continued “plain old telephone service” (POTS). AT&T argues the FCC has adopted rules encouraging retirement of aging copper lines and that California “Carrier of Last Resort” (COLR) obligations conflict with federal pre-emption principles. AT&T claims copper wires now serve only about 3% of households in its California territory, while critics warn that rapid retirement could leave some users without adequate service.

"AT&T wants to ditch its traditional copper phone line infrastructure in California in favor of fiber everywhere, claiming it has to spend $1 billion each year on a telephone network that a tiny percentage of customers use. The US telecoms giant announced plans this week to invest $19 billion in The Golden State between now and the end of the decade to bring fiber to more than 4 million additional households and businesses, upgrading customers to the newer infrastructure."

"As part of its plans, the telco has filed a lawsuit [PDF] against several state officials seeking a court order to overturn California rules that require AT&T to continue offering a "plain old telephone service" (POTS). AT&T points out that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently adopted rules that encourage telcos to retire their aging copper lines."

"In its court filing, AT&T says "the copper wires that once served every home now serve just 3 percent of households in AT&T's California territory," but complains that state-level "Carrier of Last Resort" (COLR) rules require it to continue supporting and maintaining POTS even after the FCC has authorized the service to be phased out. Under basic pre-emption principles, those COLR rules cannot stand, it asserts."

"While the telco likes to portray this as bringing faster and more reliable modern network technology to all California residents, critics say rushing to phase out the old phone network could leave some users behind. A nonprofit public interest group, Public Knowledge, previously warned the FCC dire"

Read at theregister