FCC Needs More Time to Look at Verizon Copper Retirement
Local governments and others had raised concerns about the availability of replacement services
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2026 – Federal regulators are taking more time to review a Verizon application to discontinue copper service after local governments and subscribers raised concerns.
The wireless carrier had asked last month to discontinue legacy telephone service in nine states. The swathe of network covered by the application could serve 12 million locations, Verizon said in the filing, but only 277,000 actually subscribed.
That application would have been automatically approved on Sept. 26 if the Federal Communications Commission didn’t take action.
In a notice late Friday, the FCC said it was not going to automatically grant Verizon’s request. The agency said it needed more time to review the application, and that it hadn’t decided against the company.
“The Commission requires additional time to complete its review,” the agency wrote. “We emphasize that our removal of Verizon’s application from the automatic grant process is not a final determination on the merits of Verizon’s request for authority to discontinue service.”
In an email, a Verizon spokesperson gave the following statement:
“As always, we are constructively engaged with the FCC as it considers our pending discontinuance applications, and we are confident the FCC will complete its review in a timely manner. The FCC has recognized the many consumer and economic benefits of moving from legacy copper networks to modern broadband networks. And we are committed to ensuring that no customers lose the ability to connect.”
The states affected by the application included Arizona, Delaware, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. Virginia’s state utility regulator said Verizon informed it that 150,000 of the affected current subscribers were in Virginia.
Last month, the FCC automatically granted a similar application from Verizon to discontinue voice service in eight other states. That application also received some local pushback, but not as much as the one the FCC was still reviewing.
ISPs are looking to retire their old copper networks, which are expensive to maintain and no longer provide competitive broadband service. The FCC and some state agencies regulate the process to ensure rural areas aren’t left without access to essential services.
Under Chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC has been working to make the retirement process easier for ISPs, arguing it will free up cash for more useful endeavors.
State regulators, local governments, and lawmakers — Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., and Ben Cline, R-Va., as well as Virginia State Senator Russet Perry, a Democrat — had asked the FCC to take a closer look at the application.
They worried some homes and businesses would ultimately be left without a replacement voice service because of spotty wireless coverage. They also wanted more specific information on the affected locations and the alternative services available there.
In reply comments filed Sept. 24, Verizon attorney Randy Clarke said the company wasn’t turning off every location in the nine states, just the ones where the company knew a fiber or wireless option was available.
“Some commenters who state that they will not have access to an approved alternative if Verizon discontinues their copper POTS are correct, and accordingly such customers are not subject to discontinuance at this time,” he wrote.
He said the company took a “broad, inclusive” approach to sending discontinuance notices, and that not every customer that received one would ultimately see their service discontinued. He said the company would hold a town hall in Virginia next month to tell customers about the transition.
“This is reassuring,” Public Knowledge vice president Harold Feld posted on X about the extended review. “Nothing against VZ, but good to see staff not afraid to do serious review and not rubber stamp.”
Verizon CEO Dan Schulman has said the company was retrofitting old copper wire centers to serve as mini data centers.
AT&T and Fidium are also undertaking large copper retirement efforts. Similar applications from AT&T are set for automatic approval on Oct. 5, Oct. 18, Oct. 22, and Nov. 20.
AT&T is locked in a legal battle with California on multiple fronts over the state’s relatively stringent rules on replacement services. The company wants the FCC to overrule the state’s rules, and for a federal court to strike them down.
