The Last Copper State: Will Optical Fiber Finally Replace Legacy Phone Networks?
The Last Copper State: Will Optical Fiber Finally Replace Legacy Phone Networks?
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The Last Copper State: Will Optical Fiber Finally Replace Legacy Phone Networks?
AT&T’s landmark federal lawsuit against California — the only U.S. state still mandating copper landline service — is forcing a long-overdue reckoning over the future of America’s telephone infrastructure.
AT&T filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday, May 21, against the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, seeking a court order declaring it is no longer obligated to offer traditional copper-wire telephone service to new customers in California. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, marks a pivotal moment in the decades-long sunset of the century-old plain old telephone system — and it thrusts the question of fiber’s future into the national spotlight.
The suit centers on the CPUC’s “Carrier of Last Resort” (COLR) obligation, which requires AT&T to provide basic telephone service to any requesting customer within its service territory. Two years ago, in June 2024, the CPUC rejected AT&T’s administrative request to be relieved of that duty. California now stands as the only state where AT&T still faces this requirement: the company has received similar regulatory relief in 20 of the 21 states where it operates traditional copper networks.
A Network Serving a Shrinking Few
AT&T says it spends approximately $1 billion per year maintaining copper infrastructure that now reaches only about 3 percent of households in its California service territory — roughly 200,000 residential and business customers who still rely on copper-based phone service or legacy DSL connections. The company argues that compelling it to power, repair, and sell traditional phone service — even in areas where the FCC has already authorized the technology to be phased out — is both economically irrational and technologically regressive.
In parallel with the lawsuit, AT&T has filed separate petitions with the Federal Communications Commission seeking approval to discontinue copper-based service for approximately 184,000 residential and 15,000 business customers in California, along with federal forbearance and preemption orders that would limit California’s ability to enforce its COLR rules. The company also intends to begin transitioning customers in targeted areas to fiber and wireless services no sooner than June 1, 2027, following a phased, year-long upgrade process.
A $19 Billion Bet on Fiber
Far from abandoning California, AT&T is making what it describes as its largest-ever infrastructure investment in the state. The company has committed $19 billion — approximately $3 billion more over 2026–2030 than in the previous five-year period — to expand fiber coverage to more than 4 million additional homes and businesses, bringing its California fiber footprint to over 9 million locations. The plan also includes deployment of more than 1,200 new wireless cell sites, hundreds of new technician hires, and an expansion of its Connected Learning Centers for digital skills training.
As part of the transition, AT&T plans to offer existing copper (“POTS”) customers its new AT&T Phone-Advanced service — a fiber- or wireless-based alternative that supports legacy phones, fax machines, home security systems, and medical monitoring devices — free of charge for three months, with additional discounts for California Lifeline program participants.
Energy, Theft, and the Case Against Copper
AT&T’s arguments extend beyond cost accounting. The company projects that retiring the copper network will save approximately 300 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually in California by 2030 — equivalent to eliminating the emissions from burning roughly 17 million gallons of gasoline. Independent research supports the energy case: the International Center for Law & Economics found that copper infrastructure uses approximately 172 kWh per subscriber each year, compared to just 6 kWh for fiber — a 97-percent reduction in energy intensity.
Security is also a mounting concern. California has already experienced approximately 2,000 outages tied to copper cable theft so far in 2026, with AT&T reporting it has struggled to source replacement parts for the aging network. The surge in theft has been driven by surging copper prices — nearly $6 per pound by early 2026, up from $2.29 in 2020. Nationally, AT&T reported nearly 8,700 copper theft incidents in 2025, costing roughly $76 million in repairs. The company has offered a $20,000 reward for tips leading to arrests related to copper theft in California.
California Regulators Push Back
The CPUC has countered that it has never prohibited AT&T from replacing copper with modern technology — only that the carrier must maintain basic voice coverage in areas where no alternative exists. In a 2024 ruling, the commission stated its rules are technology-neutral and do not prevent AT&T from retiring copper facilities or investing in fiber. Separately, the CPUC’s public advocate office has been negotiating a “Joint Proposal” that would link copper retirement to mandatory fiber buildout, designed to ensure that network modernization reaches lower-income communities rather than bypassing them.
The original summary provided to this publication described AT&T as suing “the CPUC and the state’s Attorney General” — this is accurate. However, the suit was filed in federal court (U.S. District Court, Southern District of California), not with the CPUC as a regulatory body. Additionally, the ~2,000 copper theft outages cited refer to incidents recorded in California in 2026 year-to-date, not an annual historical figure. The original description of an FCC “exemption application” reflects AT&T’s petitions for federal preemption and forbearance orders; the FCC had already approved copper retirement at 30%+ of AT&T’s wire centers (outside California) before this lawsuit was filed.
Who Is Left Behind — and Who Decides?
Critics worry that a forced or accelerated exit from copper could strand vulnerable populations. Consumer advocates note that roughly 580,000 Californians could lose access to reliable phone service if landline obligations are dropped without adequate replacement — a concern that weighs especially heavily for elderly, rural, and low-income residents for whom traditional landlines remain the most dependable means of reaching emergency services. Landlines also retain an advantage during power outages, as copper lines carry their own electrical current, whereas fiber and wireless services depend on powered equipment at the customer premise.
Supporters of transition counter that mobile networks now blanket the vast majority of California’s population, and that fiber delivers superior reliability, speed, and resilience at lower cost. With the federal government, 20 other states, and the FCC itself now aligned behind copper retirement, they argue that California’s outlier status is delaying a transition that is both inevitable and overdue.
The outcome of AT&T’s lawsuit — and the CPUC’s parallel Joint Proposal process — will shape not only California’s telecommunications future but the national template for how regulators balance the rights of network holdouts against the economic logic of network modernization. One thing is clear: the age of copper, after more than a century of connecting American homes and businesses, is drawing to a close. The only question is how — and how quickly — it ends.
