AT&T says it plans to end landline service across the US -- but not in California. December 10, 2024.
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(Dallas, TX) – If you’re among the American households who continue to use a landline — it may soon no longer be an option where you live. In fact, AT&T is planning to eliminate nearly all landline telephone service within is US service area — other than California, where a specific law mandates that they remain in place.
AT&T says it’s getting out of the home phone business in at least 20 states. The plan is to terminate the service by 2029. According to the telecommunications giant, copper wire service is both outdated and expensive to maintain. In addition, fewer Americans make use of them each year, as cellular service has become the common standard. Still, many argue that in an emergency or events of power outage it’s good to have a landline — although those holdouts appear to be dwindling in number.
As for California, landline service is here to stay, as a result of official state action. Regulators rejected AT&T’s plan to eliminate landlines in the Golden State, as the company is a “Carrier of Last Resort Obligation” or COLR, and that requires they maintain the copper-based network.
In terms of locations where landlines are going away, AT&T says it’s prepared to keep customers happy: a system will be offered that allows people to plug their home phone into a cellphone connection, and then continue to use the phone they’re familiar with.
In an interesting quirk, New York State is one of the spots leading the charge in terms of keeping landline phones alive. The Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey this year — looking at The National Center of Health Statistics — and found that 52% of New York residents still own a fixed-line phone. New Jersey is not far behind and checked in second overall for landline ownership. The study’s authors concluded that’s a result of both states having older populations, as seniors are the most likely to keep using landlines within their homes.
