# Cities Are Cutting the Cord on Copper Lines

> 78 million U.S. wireline voice connections remain, 15 million still on copper, as the FCC clears the way for retirement. What cities need to know.

- Published: April 30, 2025 (updated July 24, 2026)
- Author: Timor Brik
- Topics: Press, Government, Compliance, Copper Retirement
- Adapted from Government Technology Insider: https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/cities-are-cutting-the-cord-on-copper-telephone-lines-is-yours-next/
- Primary entity: topic:copper-retirement
- Related entities: solution:multi-site-telecommunications, standard:emergency-communication-requirements, legacy-tech:copper-pots-line, definition:copper-retirement, definition:wire-center
**Direct Answer:**
Yes — and most local governments aren't ready. The FCC has cleared the way for carriers to retire copper telephone networks, and the FCC counted [78 million wireline retail voice connections still in service as of June 2025](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-421558A1.pdf) — roughly 15 million of them traditional switched [POTS](https://dataremote.com/newsroom/definitions/pots-line) copper lines. AT&T and CenturyLink have already filed copper retirement notices across more than a dozen states. Cities that haven't audited their copper-dependent lines — alarm panels, elevator phones, emergency call boxes — risk service disruptions when a shutdown notice lands. A [POTS Transformation](https://dataremote.com/solutions/pots-line-replacement) approach lets municipalities move to IP-based connectivity without replacing existing analog equipment.

> MIAMI, FL / [Government Technology Insider](https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/cities-are-cutting-the-cord-on-copper-telephone-lines-is-yours-next/) / April 30, 2025

## Key takeaways

- The FCC has approved faster copper retirement rules, and carriers are actively filing to discontinue copper service state by state.
- The FCC counted [78 million U.S. wireline retail voice connections as of June 2025](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-421558A1.pdf) — 53 million business, 26 million residential — with roughly 15 million still on traditional switched copper.
- AT&T has active or announced copper retirement filings in California, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and Florida; CenturyLink is transitioning copper to fiber across seven Western and Midwestern states.
- The USPS's 23,000-location [POTS Transformation](https://dataremote.com/newsroom/news/mettel-usps-supplier-excellence-award-dataremote) deployment demonstrates that digital IP replacement works at federal scale without swapping analog equipment.
- Municipalities should audit copper-dependent lines now — voice, fire alarms, elevator phones, emergency call boxes — rather than waiting for a shutdown notice.

## Preparing for the copper telephone line retirement

The digital age demands modern infrastructure. Yet beneath city streets and inside government office walls, a growing challenge persists: aging copper telephone lines. While residents expect instant digital communication, many local governments still depend on this legacy technology — a system that increasingly poses safety risks, drains budgets, and slows modernization efforts. The [FCC has streamlined the process for carriers to retire copper networks](https://www.fcc.gov/tech-transitions), and the transition is already underway. Cities that fail to adapt risk being left behind.

The FCC counted [78 million wireline retail voice connections](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-421558A1.pdf) in service as of June 2025, roughly 15 million of them still traditional switched copper — and 53 million of the total are business connections, which is where municipal analog endpoints sit.

## What municipalities must know

This issue is particularly relevant for local and city governments. Depending on location, specific risks and opportunities exist to facilitate the transition:

| Region | What's happening |
| --- | --- |
| **California** | Rapid copper network retirements by providers like AT&T make proactive planning and funding acquisition critical; state authorities have raised service-continuity and consumer-protection concerns. |
| **Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas** | AT&T has announced closures of copper feeder facilities, signaling a significant shift toward digital alternatives. |
| **Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Washington** | CenturyLink's planned copper retirements in favor of fiber optic lines present an opportunity for local governments to partner with the provider and accelerate upgrades. |
| **Florida** | AT&T Florida filed a public notice to retire parts of its copper network, [impacting areas including Orlando](https://dataremote.com/blog/florida-copper-landline-retirement) — local governments must act quickly to secure resources and inform residents. |

## USPS POTS Transformation: proof digital IP works at scale

Even federal agencies are recognizing the need to modernize. The [United States Postal Service](https://www.executivebiz.com/articles/mettel-books-usps-contract-for-telephone-line-modernization) recently completed a transition of over [23,000 locations](https://dataremote.com/newsroom/news/mettel-usps-supplier-excellence-award-dataremote) nationwide from traditional copper lines to a digital IP-based solution, earning MetTel a 2024 USPS Supplier Excellence Award. This demonstrates the feasibility and benefits of such a transformation, even at national scale.

The USPS's [POTS Transformation solution](https://dataremote.com/solutions/pots-line-replacement) — hardware that replaces Plain Old Telephone Service with a digital equivalent — allows agencies to maintain existing analog equipment while gaining the advantages of IP telephony, including increased reliability, cost savings, and advanced monitoring features.

This solution supports specialty lines including [elevators](https://dataremote.com/solutions/elevator-emergency-communication), [fire alarms](https://dataremote.com/solutions/fire-burglar-alarm-communication), and emergency call boxes, and has received approval from public safety organizations — further demonstrating its reliability for life-safety use cases.

## Why cities need digital IP solutions over copper landlines

Today's analog landlines rely on [century-old copper-wire technology](https://dataremote.com/blog/end-of-copper-phone-lines), and maintaining this aging infrastructure is costly — a burden that ultimately passes to residents through higher fees. As climate-related disasters grow more frequent, the vulnerabilities of copper lines — susceptibility to water damage and power outages — pose a growing risk to public safety. Transitioning to digital IP systems delivers greater reliability during emergencies, offering a lifeline when it matters most.

Fortunately, viable digital alternatives exist, offering meaningful cost savings, increased reliability, and enhanced features. Solutions like the one implemented by the USPS demonstrate that transition doesn't require replacing existing equipment — a POTS Transformation approach allows continued use of analog phones and devices while gaining the benefits of IP technology, including improved reliability, performance visibility, and support for specialty lines like elevators, fire alarms, and emergency call boxes.

## Why the resistance to change?

People are naturally wary of abandoning the familiar, especially something as seemingly reliable as a landline. But these copper lines have reached end of life. As they age and deteriorate, they pose a significant risk to critical infrastructure — no different than neglected roads, bridges, or tunnels. Just as governments invest in maintaining physical infrastructure, they must modernize communication networks.

## What municipal procurement has to account for

Public-sector migrations carry constraints that private ones do not, and they lengthen timelines
in predictable ways worth building into the schedule.

**Budget cycles rarely match carrier timelines.** A retirement date set by a filing does not wait
for a fiscal year. Where the full portfolio cannot be funded in one cycle, the sequencing decision
becomes a risk decision: fund the life-safety circuits first, because those are the ones with
inspection consequences and third-party dependencies.

**Procurement rules may require competitive solicitation**, which adds months. Starting the
inventory before the solicitation is drafted is what makes the specification accurate — an RFP
written without knowing the circuit count and endpoint mix produces bids that cannot be compared.

**Federal buyers face additional requirements.** Where TAA or NDAA sourcing provisions apply, they
constrain the eligible hardware set and should be established before evaluating products rather
than after. Those are attestations about supply chain, not certifications about performance, and
they are a separate line of inquiry from fire and life-safety credentials.

**Multiple departments own the endpoints.** Public works, parks, fire, police, transit, libraries
and facilities each hold circuits, and the telecom bill sits with none of them. The inventory has
to be assembled across departments or it will be incomplete.

## Municipal endpoints that get missed

City portfolios accumulate analog circuits over decades, in categories that rarely appear on a
telecom inventory:

- **Emergency call boxes** in parks, garages, transit stops and along trails
- **Campus blue-light phones** at community colleges and municipal complexes
- **Elevator phones** in every public building, each inspected independently
- **[Area of refuge](https://dataremote.com/newsroom/definitions/area-of-refuge) stations** in stairwells and elevator
  lobbies — frequently installed by a contractor at construction and never labeled recognizably
- **Traffic and signal telemetry**, plus obstruction and navigation lighting at municipal airports
- **Water and utility metering** and SCADA circuits at pump stations and treatment plants
- **Gate and barrier controllers** at yards, depots and impound lots
- **Fire and burglar panels** in every facility

The pattern: the circuits with the highest consequence are frequently the ones with the least
documentation, because they were installed as part of a construction project rather than a telecom
one. Fire alarm drawings, elevator inspection files and facility as-builts find circuits that
invoices do not.

## Building a defensible record

Public agencies are audited and inspected, which raises the value of documentation above what a
private migration usually requires. Produce it at cutover, per circuit, while the information is
at hand.

For each circuit, record: what it serves and where it physically is; the code and edition the
reviewer applies; the models installed, with certification or listing identifiers and the issuing
bodies; the configuration, including what supervises the path and at what interval; the measured
backup runtime from a real load test rather than a datasheet rating; the end-to-end test result,
naming who tested, who confirmed receipt at the far end, and when; and the retest interval.

Ask each reviewing authority what they want before assembling it — requirements vary by
jurisdiction, and one conversation early is cheaper than a second inspection. For the code
framework these reviewers apply, see
[emergency communication requirements for buildings](https://dataremote.com/newsroom/standards/emergency-communication-requirements)
and [NFPA 72](https://dataremote.com/newsroom/standards/nfpa-72).

## The path forward

The disappearance of copper lines won't happen overnight, but the transition is inevitable. Many people remain unaware of existing alternatives and the potential impact of a failing telecom infrastructure. Local governments should take immediate action by conducting infrastructure audits of copper-dependent lines to help ensure continuity of service. Cities that embrace this change will not only enhance public safety and reduce costs but also position themselves as leaders in the digital era.

Continued reliance on outdated technology is impractical when a more cost-effective, resilient, and readily available alternative exists. See DataRemote's [complete guide to POTS line replacement](https://dataremote.com/blog/complete-guide-to-pots-line-replacement-2026) for a practical starting point, or explore [POTS IN A BOX®](https://dataremote.com/pots-in-a-box) devices built for exactly this transition.

**Related reading:** [Digitizing telecoms for the future](https://dataremote.com/blog/industry-today-digitizing-telecoms-for-the-future) explains why copper modernization is now a business imperative, and DataRemote COO Timor Brik weighs in on [whether you're ready for the POTS line shutdown](https://dataremote.com/blog/wirelessdealermagazine-are-you-ready-for-the-pots-line-shutdown).

— Timor Brik, Chief Operating Officer of [DataRemote](https://dataremote.com/) and licensed attorney with 10+ years of experience modernizing the telecommunications industry

## Frequently asked questions

**Why are cities retiring copper telephone lines?**

The FCC has approved streamlined copper retirement rules, and carriers like AT&T and CenturyLink are actively discontinuing copper service in many states. Copper infrastructure is costly to maintain, increasingly unreliable, and vulnerable to water and power damage — pushing municipalities toward digital IP alternatives.

**Which states have active copper retirement filings?**

As of this reporting, AT&T has filed to retire copper feeder facilities in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and parts of Florida (including Orlando), while California regulators have raised service-continuity concerns over AT&T's copper retirements statewide. CenturyLink has announced copper-to-fiber transitions across Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

**Do municipalities have to replace their existing phones and alarm equipment?**

No. A POTS Transformation approach, such as DataRemote's POTS IN A BOX®, replaces the underlying copper line while keeping existing analog phones, fire alarms, elevator phones, and emergency call boxes in place.

**How many POTS lines are still in service in the U.S.?**

The FCC counted 78 million wireline retail voice connections in the U.S. as of June 2025, of which roughly 15 million were still traditional switched copper access lines. Business connections make up 53 million of the 78 million total, which is where most municipal and commercial analog endpoints sit.

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Canonical page: https://dataremote.com/blog/cities-are-cutting-the-cord-on-copper-telephone-lines-is-yours-next
Organization: DataRemote, Inc. — POTS line replacement, cellular failover, and fixed wireless access solutions. https://dataremote.com