GOP Candidate for California Governor Dings FCC, AT&T on Effort to End California Landline Obligations
Steve Hilton, endorsed by President Trump, urges the FCC to let state regulators preserve AT&T’s voice services for rural Californians.
WASHINGTON, July 8, 2026 – Two Trump-backed Republicans are finding themselves on opposite sides of a political fight regarding the future of landline phone service in California.
In a letter sent Monday, Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to reverse the agency's recent decision allowing AT&T to discontinue landline service for roughly 184,000 California customers.
“Bureaucrats in D.C. are forcing Californians to give up their landlines. Millions of people, especially seniors and rural residents, are now at SERIOUS risk! This is a violation of the 10th Amendment and MUST be reversed,” Hilton said Monday in a post to X.
The 10th Amendment states that powers not specifically given to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people.
Hilton said the FCC should rescind its June 29 decision approving AT&T's applications to discontinue legacy voice service under Section 214 of the Communications Act and reject any effort to use federal authority to override California’s decision requiring the company to continue serving as a Carrier of Last Resort.
The letter framed the dispute as an issue of federalism, arguing that California, not Washington, should determine how universal telephone service obligations are implemented in the state.
“In my campaign for Governor, I have seen firsthand how unreliable cell service can be in large parts of our state,” Hilton told Carr. “Anyone who has driven through the mountains, rural communities, fire-prone regions, agricultural areas, or even stretches of our major highways knows the idea that everyone can simply rely on a cellphone is detached from reality.”
The FCC and AT&T did not comment.
Hilton is running against Democrat Xavier Becerra in the November 3, 2026, general election for California governor. The two advanced from the state’s top-two primary on June 2, with Becerra receiving 28% of the vote and Hilton earning 25%.
The race is taking place in a heavily Democratic state where Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is barred from seeking a third term due to term limits. President Donald Trump has endorsed Hilton as he seeks to win the governor’s mansion in Sacramento for Republicans.
The FCC approved AT&T's Section 214 applications last month but has not yet acted on separate petitions in which AT&T asks the FCC to preempt California's Carrier of Last Resort requirements and forbear remaining federal obligations that come with AT&T’s status as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier in the state. The company says both impede its transition away from legacy networks.
Comments on both AT&T’s preemption and forbearance petitions, initially filed May 20, were due at the FCC on Tuesday.
In its filing, the California Public Utilities Commission urged the FCC to deny AT&T's preemption petition in its entirety, arguing the company’s request mischaracterizes state law.
The CPUC emphasized that California's COLR rules are technology-neutral and do not require providers to maintain copper facilities. Rather, AT&T's obligation since being designated a COLR in 1996 has been to provide basic telephone service within its service territory regardless of whether that service is delivered over copper, fiber, wireless, VoIP or another technology.
The commission also pointed to a 2008 decision exempting incumbent local exchange carriers from seeking state approval to retire copper loops so long as customers receive comparable service over fiber, saying California has long sought to encourage network modernization while preserving access to basic service.
Separately, the CPUC noted it is in the midst of updating its COLR regulations at issue in AT&T’s petition. The CPUC separately filed against AT&T’s request for forbearance.
