California says AT&T lied to FCC in attempt to shut off old phone network

What AT&T wants is the ability to replace copper lines with wireless service in areas where the carrier decides that fiber upgrades wouldn’t be profitable enough. California says the wireless service is not an adequate replacement for wired phone service. “AT&T’s discontinuance applications rely principally on the availability of AT&T’s LTE-based Advanced Phone service, and claim that affected customers are served by one or more ‘facilities-based mobile wireless’ provider as well,” California told the FCC this week. “AT&T has not shown, however, that the indoor mobile voice coverage in the affected areas—as opposed to the outdoor coverage—is sufficient to render wireless service an adequate substitute for AT&T’s wireline residential and business services.” AT&T points to the FCC’s National Broadband Map to demonstrate its coverage capabilities, but this map “displays broadband, not voice, coverage,” California said. Meanwhile, the FCC’s Mobile LTE Coverage Map displays voice coverage but includes the disclaimer that it “depicts the coverage a customer can expect to receive when outdoors and stationary” and “is not meant to reflect where service is available when a user is indoors.” AT&T’s own coverage data can’t show that its mobile network adequately replaces copper-based phone service, California said. The state filing quoted a disclaimer on AT&T’s website that the “map displays approximate outdoor coverage. Actual coverage may vary. Coverage isn’t guaranteed and is subject to change without notice.” Because obstructions such as buildings and walls may affect wireless service quality, “mobile service provider maps cannot reliably determine that a wireless service is an adequate replacement for a wireline service without further proof of indoor coverage,” California said. AT&T said it has received relief from Carrier of Last Resort obligations in 20 of the 21 states in its wireline service territory. Carrier of Last Resort rules require phone companies to provide landline telephone service to any potential customer in their service territory. The CPUC rejected AT&T’s request to end its California landline obligations in 2024. At the time, the agency urged AT&T to upgrade copper lines to fiber rather than shut down the outdated portions of its network. In addition to its FCC petition, AT&T filed a lawsuit against California last month seeking an order that would preempt California’s Carrier of Last Resort rules. “California requires AT&T to spend $1 billion each year to maintain a century-old telephone network that almost no one uses,” AT&T alleged in its lawsuit. Lawsuits can take years, but the FCC may be inclined to act on AT&T’s requests more quickly. Under Chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC issued an order that made it easier for carriers to discontinue copper networks and asserted that state rules are subject to preemption if they conflict with the FCC’s discontinuance authorizations and authority. California regulators urged the FCC to move with caution. If the agency doesn’t reject AT&T’s applications outright, it should at least remove them from the streamlined process that could result in a quick approval, California said. California could ultimately sue the FCC if the agency tries to preempt the state rules. “California opposes the applications as presented and respectfully asks the Commission to reject these applications,” the state said. “In the alternative, we ask the Wireline Competition Bureau to remove these applications from the streamlined process and ask the Commission to direct AT&T to address the concerns we have raised here.”