Infrastructure

AT&T Approved to Discontinue Service at More Than 30% of Copper Footprint This Year

The company wants to decommission much of its copper by the end of 2029.

Jake Neenan

Jan 13, 2026 — 3 min read

Photo of Rhonda Johnson, AT&T's EVP of federal regulatory relations, from X

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2026 – AT&T has federal approval to start retiring more than 30 percent of its copper footprint, excluding California, the company said Monday.

On Dec. 1, 2025, the carrier submitted to the Federal Communications Commission an application to discontinue service at wire centers currently serving about 90,000 customers across 18 states. The application was eligible for streamlined treatment and thus was automatically granted Monday, 31 days after the FCC public notice on the application was published.

The carrier has been outspoken about its copper retirement efforts, with plans to retire the large majority of its copper outside of California by the end of 2029. Telecoms are eager to turn off their copper networks, which are expensive to maintain and don’t provide competitive broadband speeds. AT&T has said it spends $6 billion annually on maintaining its roughly 4,600 copper wire centers.

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Infrastructure Brendan Carr AT&T Rhonda Johnson Olivia Trusty John Stankey California

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