AT&T copper network retirement set to accelerate as legacy base shrinks to 1%

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AT&T's status report on its ongoing copper network retirement initiative showed that just 1% of the operator's eligible customers are still using the company's legacy copper-based voice technology.

That's a significant drop from the 5% of residential customers that were still on AT&T's legacy copper technology when Susan Johnson, AT&T's senior EVP, transformation and global supply chain, provided an update on the initiative during AT&T's analyst and investor day in December 2024.

That drop comes as AT&T starts to actively migrate customers off of copper to either wireless or fiber-based services, and as customers migrate on their own.

"As anticipated, we are continuing to see a decline in the number of customers that are using our legacy services," Johnson told Light Reading on Monday. "That [number] is continuing to descale and customers are leaving [copper-based services] for many reasons, but preeminent among them is it's no longer meeting their needs for speeds and reliability."

Related:How (and when) AT&T will kiss copper goodbye

AT&T is moving ahead with a plan to decommission the bulk of its copper network (save for California) by 2030. AT&T is also preparing to turn down a portion of its copper networks in California as the issue works its way through the FCC and the courts (more on that later).

'White glove' process

In support of the initiative, the company has developed AT&T Phone-Advanced, a POTS (plain old telephone service) alternative that supports all legacy devices via either wireless or fiber networks, including support for elements such as caller ID, E911, fax machines, alarm systems and medical monitoring devices. The company also has developed AT&T ESInet, which it bills as a faster, more secure next-gen 911 platform.

In the early phases of the transition, AT&T is taking a wireless-first approach by initially focusing on areas where it has adequate wireless coverage. A follow-on phase will focus on areas where AT&T has built fiber.

Johnson said AT&T is being careful to test signal strengths in those wireless areas to ensure the network can support AT&T Phone-Advanced. She noted that AT&T uses a "white glove" for the process for residential and business customers while also providing assurances to customers that are anxious about the change or are concerned the new offering won't provide a like-for-like service and experience. On Monday, Johnson posted a blog updating the status of the transition along with some customer testimonials, including one who has been an AT&T landline customer since the 1980s.

Related:AT&T sues California amid big push to retire copper in the state

Still, AT&T and other telcos undertaking copper shutdown efforts aren't immune to complaints. A review of recent copper retirement opposition filings in FCC dockets provided by an industry source found 1,078 confirmed complaints for AT&T, with a concentration in California, compared to 743 for Verizon (which also is embarking on a copper network shutdown plan), and 27 for CenturyLink/Lumen.

Scaling phase underway

AT&T says more than 100 of its outdated, power-hungry wire centers have been powered down and are no longer servicing customers. Those wire centers serve as the central office/voice switch and contain elements such as the remote terminals and the copper lines themselves. That decommissioning milestone translates to more than 500 communities covering 1.3 million locations across 18 states, according to the company. AT&T expects to complete the process across another 1,500 communities over the next year.

"Hitting this first 100 wire centers with no customers left is important for us to prove out that this is working for our customers, and now we are leaning into further scale," Johnson said.

With respect to customer migrations, "you're going to see scale pretty materially from here on out," she added.

There's definitely much more to go as AT&T, which had about 4,600 wire centers when it sparked the initiative, enters the migration acceleration phase. Among upcoming milestones, AT&T has FCC approval to shut down more than 30% of its wire centers by the end of 2026. Additionally, AT&T expects about half its wire centers (excluding California) to no longer be serving customers by the end of 2027.

Related:AT&T's copper shutdown in California takes a step forward

Different path and timeframe for California

AT&T's copper retirement initiative in California is on a different path and timeframe.

AT&T operates 615 wire centers in California, and it has filed with the FCC to decommission about 360 of them in areas where AT&T currently has adequate fiber and wireless coverage for its POTS alternative. Per the FCC, AT&T can start that process in California on or after June 1, 2027.

That part of the plan, which also includes a commitment to build fiber to an additional 4 million-plus homes and businesses in California (for a total commitment of 9 million), covers about 60% of AT&T's territory in the Golden State. For now, AT&T is not pursuing any copper migration initiatives for California wire centers where it does not yet have adequate wireless or fiber coverage for a POTS alternative.

AT&T's fiber shut down plan has been a point of contention with state regulators. In May, AT&T filed a suit in California seeking to preempt state requirements that it believes are preventing the company from retiring copper-based phone services in the state. AT&T argues those requirements conflict with new FCC rules that are designed to streamline and accelerate migrations from copper networks.

AT&T has begun the process of communicating with California customers being served by those initial 360 wire centers. But the overall timeframe could change depending on how things go in the courts.

"From where we sit today, we'll be in progress to start the discontinuance process, assuming all goes well, mid next year in California for these wire centers," Johnson said. "But we have a path."

Power savings and space reallocation

Johnson also provided an update on the energy savings anticipated from the migration, with AT&T expecting to avoid, on average, about 600,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) annually per wire center, or up to 2.76 billion kWh per year once the transition is complete.

That, in turn, will free up some critical energy supply, particularly in areas where data center demand is coming online, Johnson said.

AT&T is pulling out and refurbishing copper and other precious metals it can extract from the process. AT&T didn't provide an update on how much old copper it has repurposed so far, but last year the company estimated it had already pulled out about 60 million pounds of copper from the network – roughly the weight of three Eiffel Towers.

"That is going to scale materially for us," Johnson said of the company's copper reclamation process.

AT&T is also analyzing what it will do with the real estate associated with these wire centers. In one recent example from early 2025, AT&T closed a sale-leaseback agreement with Reign Capital centered on underutilized central office facilities. That transaction, which provided more than $850 million of upfront cash proceeds, included the transfer of 74 properties covering more than 13 million square feet of space.

Johnson said AT&T continues to hold conversations on how existing company wire center space can be put to better use depending on location and area power resources.

In the cable arena, operators such as Comcast and Spectrum are starting to build AI edge businesses using headend and hub space being freed up as they virtualize their access networks.

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