Rural Stakeholders Oppose AT&T Petitions that Threaten Universal Telephone Service
Coalition says FCC lacks authority to override California phone service obligations.
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2026 – Rural stakeholders in California are urging the Federal Communications Commission to reject AT&T’s efforts to shed state obligations which require the company to maintain basic voice service in the communities it serves.
In reply comments filed Wednesday to the FCC, a coalition of consumer advocates, labor organizations, and local government groups argued that the FCC cannot legally grant AT&T’s request to relinquish state carrier-of-last-resort (COLR) obligations. The regulation requires designated providers, including AT&T California, to maintain basic telephone service in their service areas.
“Congress must clearly authorize an agency to expand its authority into an area traditionally reserved to the states,” wrote counsel for the Rural County Representatives of California and the California State Association of Counties, which represent more than 100 rural counties, as well as The Utility Reform Network (TURN), the Communications Workers of America, and others.
“Neither Section 214 nor any other provision of the Communications Act contains the clear congressional statement necessary to authorize the FCC to displace California’s COLR rules,” the groups, which are participating in a parallel federal lawsuit over California’s rules, wrote.
The California Public Utilities Commission and state utility groups similarly urged the FCC to reject AT&T’s requests.
On May 20, AT&T filed separate petitions asking the FCC to relinquish its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier designation, which ties it to federal universal service obligations, and preempt California’s COLR requirements.
In its most recent filing, AT&T argued that the FCC’s June 29 authorization allowing the company to discontinue plain old telephone service in portions of 360 California wire centers preempts state requirements that would otherwise prevent the company from retiring the legacy network.
AT&T also shot back at the CPUC, saying California’s COLR rules are not technology neutral because the CPUC has rejected AT&T’s wireless Phone-Advanced service as an adequate replacement for traditional telephone service.
CPUC said in its reply that the dispute is not about preserving copper infrastructure, but about ensuring that any replacement service is equally available, reliable and resilient.
The agency said California’s unique landscape must be considered, which includes rural and disaster-prone areas.
CPUC held public listening sessions on the proposed transition last week, where residents and advocates raised concerns about wireless coverage gaps, emergency communications and the reliability of replacement services during power outages and disasters. Rural residents told commissioners that wireless alternatives may not provide an equivalent safety net.
Steve Hogle, a Sonoma County resident, said his family relied on a copper landline during the 2019 Kincade Fire to receive evacuation instructions, while Virginia Catone said unreliable cellular coverage and extended power outages make wireless alternatives inadequate for her community.
“This is a matter of life and death,” Hogle said. “During the 2019 Kincade Fire, had we not had our landline, we might not be speaking with you.”
Twenty-eight members of California’s congressional delegation said this week the proposed wireless replacement relies on cellular towers that may be damaged or unavailable during disasters.
“AT&T’s proposed wireless replacement system, ‘Phone-Advanced,’ lacks the resilience of traditional copper networks during emergency situations,” members wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. “Unlike copper lines, wireless infrastructure depends on electrical grids and cellular towers that are highly vulnerable to destruction during natural disaster.”
The FCC’s decision on AT&T’s petitions could be weeks, months, or longer depending on the agency’s priorities. AT&T has maintained it is investing $19 billion to upgrade its fiber and wireless networks, and that existing customers can keep their traditional landline service until it is discontinued on June 1, 2027.
