AT&T’s request to withdraw landline service in California has been denied. • Registry

AT&T will have to continue operating landline phones in California despite its desire to cut off a less lucrative industry, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has ruled.

The telecommunications giant is considered a carrier of last resort (COLR) in California, which means that in some areas, AT&T is legally obligated to provide phone service to anyone who requests it, including landlines. COLR designation is essentially intended to prevent telecommunications companies from completely withdrawing from areas, leaving citizens without access to telephone networks.

Of course, not being able to make a phone call would mean isolation for everyone, but more importantly it would mean not being able to contact emergency services like 911.

On March 3 last year, AT&T asked the CPUC to obtain COLR status in areas where the company said local residents had options other than landlines, such as Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephone services and cellular cellular networks. networks operated by AT&T itself, as well as Verizon and T-Mobile.

As for why AT&T no longer wants to be COLR for nearly half of California, it argues that keeping all those landlines poses an obstacle to the transition to more advanced fiber infrastructure.

The CPUC, however, was not convinced by this argument and yesterday completely rejected (PDF) AT&T’s request after hearing more than 5,000 public comments and conducting an in-depth analysis of the AT&T case.

One of the key factors that allowed AT&T to maintain its COLR designation was testimony from California citizens who said that without landlines, connectivity would be very poor. One Pomo Native American was quoted as saying: “When I was a tow truck driver, I traveled nearly 100 miles… over land and was probably on the cell phone 30 percent of the time.”

“(My aunt) can’t get on the cell phone where she is because of – because of the trees. So there is no help for her. Tried T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, US Cellular, none of them work.”

This opinion is shared by many other residents who may have poor access to cellular networks due to “terrain changes, dense vegetation, geographic or structural obstructions, and other features that limit wireless signal propagation,” according to the CPUC.

Because AT&T is the only COLR in these areas, its withdrawal would mean insufficient coverage and there is no guarantee that another carrier will step in and voluntarily replace AT&T as the new COLR.

CPUC says landlines don’t prevent AT&T from investing in infrastructure

The CPUC also disagreed with the telecommunications company’s argument that maintaining landline lines hampered infrastructure modernization.

“AT&T’s public arguments show that the Commission’s COLR rules require AT&T to maintain obsolete copper-based landline equipment that is expensive to maintain,” the ruling says, “or that AT&T needs Commission approval to retire copper installations and instead, invest in more modern technologies such as VoIP, wireless and fiber optic. These arguments are not valid.”

The CPUC said there are no restrictions on AT&T retiring old infrastructure, as long as it is replaced without affecting service. The regulator also noted that the company spent $150 million on fiber between the second and fourth quarters of last year, which it said doesn’t quite square with AT&T’s arguments that it doesn’t have enough money because it spends a lot on landlines.

Not only did the CPUC deny AT&T’s request, it did so in violation of a written order prohibiting the telecommunications company from filing a similar request for an entire year.

AT&T California president Marc Blakeman responded to the ruling in a statement to: Register: “No customer will be left without voice and 911 services. We are focused on legislation introduced in California that includes important consumer protections and outreach and does not impact our customers in rural locations.”

“We are fully committed to keeping our customers connected as we work with state leaders on policies that ensure a thoughtful transformation that provides modern communications for all Californians.” ®