What Would Happen If AT&T Gets Rid Of Landlines? Angelenos Are Weighing In

Compton resident Joan Smith, 91, can still recite the number to her childhood landline phone.

To this day, she remains a loyal landline customer and says she has no interest in learning how to operate a cell phone. Her kids have repeatedly offered to buy her one over the years to no avail.

“I tell them, 'Well, if you buy it, then you're gonna waste money because I'm not going to use it,'” Smith said. “I just want my landline. It's completely dependable.”

Without a landline, Smith says she would feel disconnected from the outside world. She pays about $40 a month for service through AT&T, one of the largest providers in the state.

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AT&T plans and a call for comment

But the company is now asking for permission to phase out its copper-based landline network in California — a move advocates say could hurt some of the most vulnerable residents across the state, including older adults, people with disabilities and other groups affected by the digital divide.

The California Public Utilities Commission, the state regulator that will make the ultimate decision, has been asking for public comment. It held its final in-person and virtual public forum on the issue last week, drawing passionate objections from residents and advocates. You can still submit comments online, however.

Takeaways from thousands of comments

Many people were concerned about how losing a landline network would affect not only daily life, but in times of emergencies. (Note: we will be exploring its affect on public safety in an upcoming story).

As of Monday, about 5,800 people had submitted their thoughts. Here's a selection:

• Arlene Patton of West Covina said she’s “profoundly hard of hearing” and depends on her landline phone to caption phone calls.
  
• Humberto Camacho of L.A. said landlines are a necessity, not a convenience, because mobile phones are “often lost or stolen or out of power.”
  
• Paula Miller of L.A. said, “Not everyone is savvy for complicated cell phones and computers. Killing the landline will kill a community of individuals who rely on it.”
  
• Christina Wallerstein of Pasadena said cell service is neither available nor reliable for everyone. “I know this from personal experience. AT&T needs to maintain landlines for the general safety and wellbeing of all California residents,” she said.

Add your voice

What it means to be a "carrier of last resort"

AT&T says 5% of its customers, or 500,000 people, have traditional copper-based phone service.

The company has formally requested to be relieved of its “carrier of last resort” obligations in California, which require it to offer landline telephone service to anyone who requests it. Other providers could step in and offer landline service in those areas, but would not be legally required to do so.

If approved, according to its application, AT&T would only guarantee landline service to existing customers for six months. The company argues there are already alternative services in the vast majority of its service territory.

The case for keeping landlines

Regina Costa of The Utility Reform Network (TURN), which is working to keep landlines in California, says most of the “alternative services” AT&T points to are wireless carriers with service that fails in power outages, and AT&T admits that there are no other potential carriers of last resort in its service territory.

“What they really want to do is push customers onto wireless services,” she said. “Well, our response to that is they're not always reliable… and that is a very scary thing.”

AT&T says it operates landline networks in 21 states, 20 of which have granted it permission to transition from “outdated” copper technologies to “more modern services" like fiber and wireless, according to a spokesperson. The company said it’s not canceling landline service overnight, but that the process could take several years.

“We’re working with the remaining consumers who use traditional landline service to upgrade to newer technologies,” AT&T said in a statement.

What's next

The CPUC says the public comment form will remain open until the agency makes a final decision in the coming months.

It's also suspended the calendar on AT&T’s application until April 30 so that other parties have more time to put together proposals to take over its service obligations.