AT&T files a lawsuit against California officials, seeking a court order that the company does not have to continue offering traditional copper wire telephone service to new customers. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in southern California, names the California Public Utilities Commission and the state attorney general. AT&T argues that California’s rules effectively require it to power, repair, and sell a century-old copper network even after the service is authorized to be phased out under federal standards.
AT&T says it will invest $19 billion in California to expand modern telecom services, with a goal of connecting more than 4 million additional households and businesses by 2030. The company contends the copper network reaches about 3% of households in its California territory and that the network is costly to maintain because of copper theft, outages, and difficulty sourcing replacement parts. It also claims that transitioning away from copper would reduce energy use by an estimated 300 million kilowatt-hours annually by 2030.
Separately, AT&T asks the Federal Communications Commission for permission to discontinue traditional phone service in parts of California where it says faster and more reliable alternatives are available.
