By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - A California agency said on Thursday it has asked a U.S. court and the Federal Communications Commission to reject AT&T's request to stop offering traditional copper wire phone service to new customers.
The California Public Utilities Commission said AT&T was trying to get out of its obligations as a carrier of last resort and to ensure basic service.
The state agency said in a court filing its rules "are explicitly technology-neutral; it does not
matter whether the carrier uses copper wire, wireless, Voice over Internet Protocol, or any other type of technology, so long as it meets the standard for 'basic service.'"
California requires the U.S. wireless carrier to spend $1 billion annually to maintain a century-old telephone network that few use, AT&T said, adding the network now serves just 3% of households in AT&T’s California territory.
"Although AT&T asserts that every customer affected by its
proposed discontinuances will have access to replacement services, it does not adequately demonstrate that to be true," the CPUC said.
AT&T declined to comment on the CPUC filings.
AT&T asked the FCC for permission to discontinue traditional phone service in parts of California where it has faster, more reliable service available. It also filed a petition with the FCC to declare that federal standards preempt California’s rules that effectively require AT&T to power, repair and sell traditional phone service, even after the FCC has authorized the service to be phased out.
California said AT&T wants to discontinue residential and business telephone service provided over legacy copper-based telephone network landlines across portions of the 360 wire centers in California effective in June 2027. AT&T says the 360 wire centers affect approximately 184,000 residential customers and 15,000 business customers.
The state said it is currently considering updates to California’s Carrier of Last Resort rules but added the goal of modernized networks cannot "override our obligation to protect California’s most vulnerable citizens, many of whom still rely on the functionality that AT&T’s wireline network provides."
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and David Gregorio)
