Verizon Files to Discontinue Copper POTS Across Nine States and D.C. From November 30, 2026

On September 9, 2026, Verizon filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission under Section 214(a) of the Communications Act and Section 63.71 of the Commission’s rules for authority to discontinue legacy time-division multiplexing (TDM) voice service delivered over copper, commonly called POTS, in portions of nine states and the District of Columbia. The filing is available in the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System as document 26110076152.

What was filed

The applicants are Verizon Maryland LLC, Verizon New England Inc., Verizon New York Inc., Verizon North LLC, Verizon Pennsylvania LLC, Verizon Washington, DC Inc., and 34 Frontier Communications operating companies, which the application identifies as “all Verizon companies.” The affected service is residential and business copper-based POTS in portions of California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with service areas depicted in the application’s Exhibit B maps.

Verizon states that its network “could serve over 28 million locations in these states with POTS” and that “only approximately 750,000 residential and business locations, or 2.7%, still subscribe to legacy voice services.”

Where discontinuance would apply

The application seeks authority to discontinue POTS at locations where existing customers can obtain at least one of the following: Verizon’s fiber-based interconnected VoIP service; Verizon’s fixed wireless POTS voice replacement service, which the application describes as enabling legacy telephone equipment to operate over Verizon’s wireless network; Verizon mobile wireless service; or fiber, cable, or mobile wireless voice service from at least one of ten named third parties (AT&T, T-Mobile, Xfinity, Spectrum, Breezeline, Mediacom, Optimum, Shentel, Sparklight, or Armstrong). Verizon relies on its own fixed wireless service and does not rely on third-party fixed wireless in this application.

On backup power, the application states that Verizon’s fixed wireless replacement equipment uses commercially available AA batteries: “Voice Connect batteries will provide up to three talk hours, or up to 23 standby hours of backup power, and Verizon Voice Gateway batteries provide up to 4 talk hours and 24 standby hours.” It notes that the FCC’s residential backup power rule under 47 C.F.R. § 12.5 expired in 2025.

Dates and process

• September 8, 2026. Customer notices were sent by U.S. Mail to legacy voice customers in the discontinuance area. Representative notices, branded Verizon and “Frontier, a Verizon Company,” are attached as Exhibit A. Both state that on or after November 30, 2026, subject to FCC approval, the company “will have authority to discontinue traditional copper-based home phone service,” that no action is required now, and that customers whose service will be discontinued will receive a further letter with a specific disconnection date.
• September 9, 2026. Application filed. Copies were sent to each affected state’s governor and public utility commission, federally recognized tribes in the discontinuance areas, and the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer, as Section 63.71(a) requires.
• On or after November 30, 2026. Planned discontinuance, “pending regulatory approval.” Footnote 153 adds that Verizon will satisfy any additional state requirements before effectuating the discontinuance.

The filed copy carries the placeholder “WC Docket No. 26-____.” As of September 16, 2026, the FCC had not released an acceptance public notice for this application. Under 47 C.F.R. § 63.71(f), a technology-transition discontinuance application that meets the streamlining criteria is deemed granted on the 31st day after the FCC’s public notice unless the Commission notifies the applicant otherwise. The application states it is filed under the rules “still in effect until the new Network Modernization Order rules the Commission adopted earlier this year take effect,” referring to FCC 26-19, adopted March 26, 2026.

The separate Virginia-area proceeding, WC Docket No. 26-227

A distinct Verizon application is already under FCC review. Public notice DA 26-890, released August 26, 2026, accepted for filing an application by Verizon Delaware, Verizon New England (d/b/a Verizon Rhode Island), Verizon New Jersey, Verizon South, Verizon Virginia, and nine Frontier operating companies to discontinue residential and business legacy TDM voice service in portions of Arizona, Delaware, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. Comments were due September 10, 2026. The application will be deemed granted automatically on September 26, 2026 unless the FCC intervenes, and the authorized discontinuance date is on or after October 23, 2026.

Objections have been filed in that docket. On September 3, 2026, Rappahannock County, Virginia submitted a letter to Governor Spanberger into the record stating that 48.5 percent of the county lacks qualifying wireless coverage under FCC data, that 154 emergency calls were placed to 911 from Verizon copper lines in the county over six months, and that the local electric cooperative recorded 269 outages exceeding 24 hours between January 2025 and August 2026. The county asked the Commonwealth to request that the FCC remove the application from streamlined processing pending address-level availability mapping. The letter reproduces a September 1, 2026 Verizon email stating: “If the customer does not have one of the [replacement] services available, then Verizon is not discontinuing copper voice service at their location.” Accomack County published a similar notice on August 21, 2026.

Relevance to DataRemote customers

Both applications cover business as well as residential POTS. Fire alarm panels, elevator emergency phones, fax machines, and other analog endpoints on Verizon or Frontier copper in the listed states fall within the discontinuance areas where a qualifying replacement is available. DataRemote’s POTS line replacement appliances are designed to keep such equipment operating over managed cellular service; the 90X1, 90X2, CDS-9010, and CDS-9090 hold Verizon Open Development certification. What building owners and facilities teams should do about the filing is covered separately in Verizon Copper Retirement: What It Means for You.

Scope

This record summarizes Verizon’s filed representations and the FCC’s public notice as published. Grant of the September 9 application is pending; the FCC may remove either application from streamlined processing. Service areas are those specified in the applications’ exhibits, not entire states. The FCC copper retirement rules and FCC network modernization rules pages describe the underlying framework.

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