California Objects to AT&T’s Fed Bid to Terminate Landline Service

California officials are objecting to AT&T’s attempt to get the federal government to override state authorities and allow it to end landline service for many Californians, Silicon Valley.com reported. AT&T last month filed a federal court complaint against California regulators and submitted two petitions to the FCC, seeking relief from a long-standing obligation to provide landline service where alternative phone options don’t exist.

AT&T’s attempts to discontinue its landline business has raised alarms that during earthquakes, fires, floods and storms, landline customers could be cut off from help because cell phone infrastructure and internet service can be damaged or disrupted.

For its part, AT&T says that it has been working with the state’s policymakers and legislators for years to stop providing landline service, “unfortunately to no avail.”

The company has pledged to state regulators that it would only shut down a customer’s landline service when other options exist. But consumer advocates say landlines are key in disasters or in areas with poor cellular reception, and many people who would lose that service would lack reliable alternatives even if AT&T determined they had them.

Last week, the State of California and the California Public Utilities Commission, in a letter to the FCC, asked the agency to reject AT&T’s requests, or at least remove them from streamlined processing, and order the company to address purported deficiencies in its plan.

The missive claims AT&T has failed to show that ending landline service wouldn’t harm the public. The utility hasn’t demonstrated that cellular coverage is sufficient to replace the copper-wire network, the letter further alleged.

AT&T has said it wants to start disconnecting landlines as early as June 1, 2027.