AT&T wants to shut down a network with only 52 users (UPDATE: AT&T responds)
UPDATE:AT&T responded to this story this morning by releasing this statement: "No customer will be left without voice or 911 service. We’re working with the FCC on a path to discontinue copper-based landline service for a small number of customers in parts of Oklahoma and upgrade them to less expensive and newer options like AT&T Phone - Advanced. This will be a nearly year-long process, and we’re committed to working with customers during this transition."
The original story follows:
AT&T is seeking regulatory approval to shut down its old-school (and, well, just old) copper networks. In a letter that the carrier wrote to the FCC at the start of this month, AT&T submitted to the agency its application to grandfather and shut down a legacy TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) based voice service in Oklahoma. AT&T wants to grandfather the network on December 15, 2024 and shut it for good on September 15, 2025.
In the letter, AT&T points out that new orders for AT&T Residential Local Service have plummeted 96% since 2014. In nine wire centers in Oklahoma, the carrier notes that "there is virtually no demand for the service." As of October 17th, 2024, only 52 subscribers are signed up for the the Affected Service in the Affected Service Area in Oklahoma. Even though there are 2,700 "living units" in the area, the company received only one new order for service over the last year.
During the 12-month period ending in December 2023, 20 customers, or a quarter of the subscribers at the time, cancelled their subscriptions. 95% of households served by AT&T don’t use their copper-based landlines and are using a newer service that better meets their needs.
"The vast majority of customers in the Affected Service Area have already selected these services in lieu of the Affected Service. Indeed, only 1.9% of Living Units in the Affected Service Area still subscribe to the Affected Service."-AT&T
There are other options available in the area for voice services, AT&T says, such as cable, fiber, fixed wireless, mobile wireless, and satellite. The company notes that it is working with its customers still using the old copper network to transition them to AT&T's mobile network in the area. One service that AT&T is offering in the region is AT&T Phone-Advanced (AP-A). This is a digital phone service that uses the carrier's wireless network and any broadband network can be used as a backup.
Customers switching to AP-A will get to keep the same phone number and can even continue to use the same devices they currently own. AT&T says that their current device is often the cheaper option even compared with landline phones. This plan has some of the characteristics of a landline allowing the user to make calls (including unlimited domestic long-distance), and emergency calls to 9-1-1. Other features allow the user to detect and block spam calls. A 24-hour backup battery keeps the service going when an emergency has taken down the power grid.
AP-A also works with other TDM-based services including fax machines, home alarms, and medical monitoring devices.
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Things that are NOT allowed: