AT&T sues California in bid to stop offering traditional phone service
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) – AT&T filed a lawsuit against California officials on Wednesday seeking a court order saying it “does not have to continue offering traditional copper-wire phone service to new customers” as it pledges to spend $19 billion on modern telecom services.
The network currently serves only 3% of households in AT&T’s California area, AT&T said, noting that California requires the U.S. wireless carrier to spend $1 billion a year to maintain a century-old phone network that few people use.
AT&T’s lawsuit included the California Public Utilities Commission and the state attorney general. The CPUC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AT&T has committed to investing $19 billion in California as it seeks to connect more than 4 million additional households and businesses across California by 2030, saying the added IP-based networks are much more reliable and efficient.
AT&T also asked the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday for permission to shut down traditional phone service in parts of California where it has faster, more reliable service. It also filed a petition with the FCC to declare that California rules that effectively require AT&T to power, repair and sell traditional phone service take precedence over federal standards even after the FCC allows the service to be phased out.
AT&T added that switching from copper would save an estimated 300 million kilowatt hours per year by 2030, or the equivalent of eliminating emissions from 17 million gallons of gasoline. The company added that California has experienced nearly 2,000 outages this year due to copper thefts and is struggling to find replacement parts.
The company said in its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Southern California that the federal government and nearly all states where AT&T has historically offered copper wire service have “eliminated regulatory hurdles that are no longer outdated,” allowing AT&T to begin shutting down its legacy network and increase investments in modern communications technologies.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Franklin Paul)
