AT&T sues California in attempt to shut off old phone network
AT&T sued California yesterday over the state’s refusal to let the service cease offering phone service to all potential prospects in its wireline network territory. AT&T can also be asking the Federal Communications Commission to declare that California can’t implement its guidelines and to let AT&T cease offering service to about 199,000 phone prospects.
“California requires AT&T to spend $1 billion each year to maintain a century-old telephone network that almost no one uses,” AT&T stated in a lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Southern District of California. “The copper wires that once served every home now serve just three percent of households in AT&T’s California territory, with consumers fleeing every day to modern broadband services that are more affordable, reliable, and energy-efficient.”
In June 2024, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) rejected AT&T’s request to get rid of the Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligation that requires it to present landline phone service to any potential buyer in its service territory. AT&T has stated it is obtained aid from COLR obligations in 20 of the 21 states in its wireline service territory, all besides California.
“The federal government and virtually all States where AT&T historically offered POTS [Plain Old Telephone Service] have now eliminated outdated regulatory obstacles, allowing AT&T to begin powering down its POTS network and increasing its investments in modern communication technologies. California stands alone in resisting this progress,” AT&T’s lawsuit stated.
AT&T complained that its “barely used copper network is an easy mark for criminals—California has already suffered about 2,000 outages from copper thefts this year—and drains the power grid of over 100 million kilowatt-hours each year.”
AT&T will not improve all traces to fiber
AT&T has argued for years that California is stopping it from changing copper with extra fashionable know-how. But California officers say AT&T is allowed to improve the copper traces with higher know-how.