AT&T has filed a federal lawsuit against California telecom regulators over the state’s requirement to preserve landline phone access for its residents.
The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of California this week, claims the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is making it difficult for AT&T to wind down its copper-based communications network that is used for traditional landline telephone service and older forms of high-speed Internet connections.
Nearly 200,000 AT&T customers in California still use the company’s copper-based infrastructure for landline phone service, dial-up connections or DSL. AT&T is attempting to shift more customers toward its fiber-based offerings, which offer comparable phone service coupled with broadband Internet connections.
But AT&T Fiber remains out of reach for hundreds of thousands of Californians outside major metropolitan and suburban areas, according to broadband maps published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Some residents who are not within AT&T’s fiber footprint have been urged to sign up for AT&T Internet Air, which runs on the company’s 4G LTE and 5G wireless networks and often has slower connection speeds and higher latency compared to land-based Internet offerings.
Maintaining AT&T’s aging copper infrastructure is expensive: In court filings reviewed by The Desk, the company claims it spends at least $1 billion annually to continue operating its legacy phone and Internet network in the state, despite few residents actually using it.
AT&T said copper lines that once served nearly every home now reach about 3 percent of households in its California territory. A senior executive at the telecom told the website Light Reading that the company is working to ensure customers who still rely on its copper-based services aren’t left in the dust if it receives approval to shut down the network.
“We want to make sure we’re handing this in a way that is not leaving customers stranded,” the executive, Susan Johnson, told the outlet.
The core complaint in AT&T’s lawsuit centers on the CPUC’s Carrier of Last Resort obligation, which requires AT&T to provide basic telephone service to any potential customer in its service territory. Two years ago, the CPUC rejected AT&T’s request to be relieved of that obligation in June 2024.
AT&T says it has received similar regulatory relief in 20 of the 21 states where it operates traditional copper networks, leaving California as the lone holdout.
AT&T has told investors it plans to build fiber in much of its wireline footprint, with priority given to denser and more profitable areas. In about half of its wireline territory, the company has described a “wireless first” strategy, under which copper phone lines would be replaced by wireless-based service rather than fiber
AT&T’s copper network is expensive, inefficient and vulnerable to theft, the company asserts. California has already experienced about 2,000 outages tied to copper theft this year, AT&T claimed. Other companies, including Charter Communications and Comcast, have faced similar service disruptions in recent years due to copper thefts, though some outages were also blamed on fiber optic lines being severed.
California regulators have countered that AT&T is not prohibited from replacing copper with newer technology — only that it must maintain its copper network in areas where that newer technology isn’t available. In 2024, the CPUC said its rules are technology-neutral and do not prevent AT&T from retiring copper facilities, investing in fiber or using other technologies to improve its network.
In prior comments, CPUC regulators cited public concerns about the reliability of mobile wireless and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) alternatives, especially during emergency situations like wildfires, where wireless networks could be knocked out entirely. Copper-based networks are typically more-resilient in rural areas where wildfires, flooding and other climate catastrophes are likely to have a more-devastating effect.
Internet companies have also been generally hesitant to build out their networks in underpopulated areas unless residents and businesses themselves pay to have connections brought to their homes and offices — an endeavor that can costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Court aside AT&T is also seeking relief from the FCC: The company recently filed petitions asking the agency to approve the discontinuance of copper-based service for 184,000 residential customers and 15,000 business customers in California.
Other petitions seek federal forbearance and preemption orders that would limit California’s ability to enforce Carrier of Last Resort rules and related mandates, including California Lifeline participation requirements. AT&T said it has about 40,000 Lifeline subscribers remaining in the state.
The Lifeline program has come under intense scrutiny from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr amid allegations of fraud and abuse in the program, which is meant to benefit low-income Americans. California has been a frequent target of Carr’s criticism focused on its handling of Lifeline benefits.
