AT&T is discontinuing copper-based voice service on November 15, 2026 in wire centers across 18 states.1 If your fire alarm panels, elevator phones, security systems, fax lines, or point-of-sale devices still run on AT&T POTS lines, the window to plan and complete a replacement is closing fast.
This is not only an AT&T story. Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) across the country, including Verizon, Lumen, and Fidium (formerly Consolidated Communications), are grandfathering and retiring copper POTS lines, and the FCC has removed much of the regulatory friction that once slowed them down.2 At MetTel, we track these filings closely, and the volume of carrier notices has never been higher.3
Quick Answer: What Is Happening on November 15, 2026?
- What: AT&T is authorized to discontinue legacy copper POTS voice service on or after November 15, 2026.
- Who: Wire centers across Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.
- Approval status: AT&T filed its FCC application on December 1, 2025, and it was granted automatically on January 13, 2026.
- Beyond AT&T: Verizon, Lumen, and Fidium are also moving to retire copper, so the same risk applies to every copper POTS line you own, whoever the carrier is.
- What to do: Inventory every copper line, prioritize life-safety and business-critical systems, and move to a purpose-built POTS replacement solution before your carrier’s cutoff date.
Is AT&T Discontinuing Copper Lines?
Yes. AT&T is retiring its copper-based legacy voice and data services in phases, wire center by wire center, and plans to retire its copper network by the end of 2029.1 Dates and available replacement services vary by location, so the date on your carrier notice is the date that applies to you.
The program began with a freeze on new orders. Effective October 15, 2025, AT&T grandfathered copper services across all wire centers in 18 states, which means no new orders for voice and specialty lines are accepted.3
Now, all 21 states have been grandfathered.
Federal policy has accelerated the shift. On March 26, 2026, the FCC adopted rules that eliminate certain filing requirements, grant carriers blanket authority to grandfather legacy voice services, and streamline discontinuance applications.2 Providers retiring copper also no longer need to offer a stand-alone voice option, because a bundled option is sufficient.3 For more background, read our blog on why POTS lines are going away.
AT&T Copper Shutdown Timeline
The dates below are the major public milestones in AT&T’s copper retirement program. Confirm your own exposure now by reviewing carrier notices, circuit inventories, and site-level service records, and ask your account manager to verify the timeline for each wire center.
| Timing | Milestone | What it means for existing accounts |
| October 15, 2025 | New copper orders frozen | AT&T grandfathered copper voice and specialty lines across all wire centers in 18 states. Existing lines continue, but new orders are not accepted. |
| June 2026 | First wire centers retired | AT&T began permanently decommissioning copper in about 500 wire centers, roughly 10% of its footprint, after FCC approval. |
| November 15, 2026 | Next major discontinuance date | AT&T may discontinue legacy voice service for customers in portions of wire centers across 18 states. |
| 2027 to 2029 | Remaining footprint to be decommissioned | AT&T plans to retire the large majority of its remaining copper by the end of 2029. |
Is Copper Going Away Everywhere? Other Local Exchange Carriers Are Retiring Copper Too
Yes. Copper retirement is a national, multi-carrier shift. Exact dates, carrier plans, and replacement options differ by provider and location, but every major ILEC is moving in the same direction:
- Verizon: Verizon has been actively retiring its copper network for a decade.
- Lumen: Lumen issued a grandfathering notice across 14 states, a step that typically precedes a full copper retirement notice.3
- Fidium (formerly Consolidated Communications): Fidium submitted applications in August 2026 to discontinue legacy service in parts of eight states.6
Notice volume is rising across the industry. MetTel’s tracking shows the count of AT&T copper retirement notices growing from 16 in 2019 to 442 in 2026. Because carriers file wire center by wire center, two sites in the same city can sit on different timelines. That is why a portfolio-wide inventory matters more than any single date.
Why the AT&T Copper Shutdown Matters
Copper retirement affects far more than voice lines. Many legacy lines sit in equipment closets, elevators, machine rooms, retail back offices, and remote branch facilities that receive little day-to-day attention, so organizations often do not know they depend on them until service stops.
Systems that may still depend on AT&T POTS lines or other analog circuits include:
- Elevator emergency phones
- Fire alarm communication and sprinkler monitoring systems
- Burglar alarms, security systems, and access-control panels
- Point-of-sale equipment and postage meters
- Fax machines
- Building-management and environmental-monitoring systems
For fire and other life-safety systems, a copper retirement project requires more than a simple circuit swap. You may need to revalidate the panel, confirm the communications path, coordinate with the vendor and monitoring company, and test the completed installation against applicable requirements.
What Happens If You Don’t Replace Your POTS Lines Before the Cutoff?
Once your carrier discontinues service at a confirmed cutoff date, systems that rely on those copper lines can lose connectivity. The impact depends on what the lines support, but the risks fall into five categories:
- Service interruption: Alarms, elevator phones, point-of-sale devices, and fax lines can go offline.
- Compliance and safety exposure: Without functioning emergency lines, businesses may not be granted a Certificate of Occupancy, which can mean closing until lines are restored or paying for fire marshals onsite at an average of $200 per hour or more.3
- Rising costs: Rates for remaining copper lines have steadily increased over the past decade and are expected to keep climbing.3
- Slower repairs or no repairs: As carriers withdraw resources from retiring central offices, repair times lengthen and in some instances lines are not repaired at all.
- Compressed timelines: Once a full copper retirement notice is issued, customers may have only 180 days to move to an alternative, and demand for copper replacement products is expected to surge.3
How to Prepare Your Business for the Copper Shutdown
A successful migration starts with an inventory, a system-by-system dependency review, and a site migration plan that finishes before your carrier’s cutoff date. These six steps will help:
- Audit copper circuits: Match carrier bills, service records, and physical lines to every site in your portfolio, and locate any discontinuance or grandfathering notices you have received.
- Identify connected equipment: Document what each line supports, such as fire panels, elevators, security systems, fax machines, and point-of-sale devices, plus who owns the device and whether it has special signaling, power, or monitoring needs.
- Rank sites by risk: Prioritize life-safety systems, locations with imminent cutoff dates, and high-volume sites where an interruption would affect operations.
- Select the replacement path: Evaluate purpose-built POTS replacement solutions, fiber, fixed wireless, or IP-based service based on use case and the options available at each site.
- Build a phased migration plan: Group sites by cutoff date, system type, geography, and installation complexity so teams can complete work in manageable waves.
- Keep records current: Update circuit inventories and site documentation after each migration to avoid repeating work later.
What Are Your Alternatives to Copper POTS Lines?
Not every replacement is built for life-safety and business-critical systems. Most copper replacement solutions have limitations when it comes to system compatibility, so confirm that your choice supports each specific panel or device.3 Common options include:
- Carrier landline replacement or mobile lines: Designed primarily for voice. Verify compatibility with alarm panels, elevator phones, and other specialty equipment before relying on them.
- Cable-based voice services: These often lack sufficient battery backup and may not meet compliance standards.
- Generic VoIP: Works well for office phones but depends on local internet connectivity, creating a single point of failure during outages.
- Cellular-only adapters: Some provide basic analog connectivity but lack proactive monitoring, multi-carrier redundancy, and extended battery backup.
- Purpose-built POTS replacement: Designed specifically to replace copper lines while maintaining compatibility with legacy and safety systems, using digital VoIP with an analog POTS handoff.
Simplify Your Copper Transition with MetTel
MetTel delivers a turnkey POTS replacement solution that upgrades traditional POTS lines to POTS in a Box (PIAB). Our proprietary solution is compatible with the broadest range of legacy telecom and safety and security equipment, can be configured to unique systems, and has built-in network and power redundancy to keep your systems online.
Our approach combines:
- Market-leading Multi-WAN hub: Business continuity and broad legacy compatibility in a single device.
- Smart Network: A private network that is geographically dispersed and engineered with multi-layer redundancy for performance and security.
- Warehouse Services: Preconfigured, pretested inventory to support rapid, large-scale deployments.
- Turnkey Installation: Professional installation and integration for legacy systems, with scheduling through the MetTel app.
- Managed Network Services: Complete lifecycle management with 24/7/365 support and visibility through the MetTel Portal. Explore our Managed Network Services.
Customers can expect estimated cost savings of 30% or more immediately and year over year. Here is how PIAB compares with traditional POTS lines:
| Features and functionality | Traditional POTS lines | MetTel POTS in a Box |
| Technology | TDM copper with POTS handoff | Proprietary software-enabled digital VoIP with POTS handoff |
| Use cases | Voice, alarms, elevators, fire panels, fax, point-of-sale devices | Voice, alarms, elevators, fire panels, fax, point-of-sale devices |
| Redundancy and battery backup | Limited | 24 to 48 hours of built-in battery backup on specific models (based on standard usage) |
| Cellular failover and auto-restart | Manual intervention often required | Automatic reboot and cellular failover |
| Proactive monitoring | No | Yes, included via the MetTel Portal |
| IP compatibility | Not IP-compatible | Fully IP-ready, integrates with digital infrastructure |
MetTel’s PIAB is a proven solution and we have done this at scale. At least four telecom aggregators attempted POTS replacement for Extra Space Storage unsuccessfully before MetTel was brought in and provided a solution that works. The USPS trusted MetTel to manage complex copper replacements across 20,000 sites nationwide, a deployment that earned MetTel the USPS Supplier Excellence Award in 2024.3
Get started before your copper cutoff date arrives. If you are not sure which of your sites are exposed, we can help you find out.
Copper Shutdown FAQ
Is copper internet going away everywhere?
Copper infrastructure is declining across the U.S., but exact retirement dates, carrier plans, and replacement options differ by provider and location. AT&T is actively retiring large portions of its copper footprint and plans to retire the large majority by the end of 2029, while Verizon, Lumen, and Fidium are also in the process of retiring their copper networks.
Does November 15, 2026 mean every AT&T copper line shuts off that day?
No. The FCC authorization allows AT&T to discontinue service on or after November 15, 2026 for customers in portions of wire centers across 18 states. Your actual cutover depends on your wire center and carrier notice, but you should have your replacement installed and tested before that date.
What happens if I don’t migrate before my cutoff date?
If you do not migrate before services are discontinued, crucial systems that rely on copper may be interrupted. The immediate impact depends on what your copper circuits support, and failures involving fire alarms or elevator phones can also trigger compliance and inspection problems.
Does copper retirement affect fire and life-safety systems?
Yes. Copper retirement can affect fire alarms, elevator phones, and other life-safety systems that use analog phone lines to communicate. The replacement must be compatible with the specific panel or device and should be tested with your provider and monitoring company to ensure uninterrupted service.
What is POTS replacement?
POTS replacement is the process of replacing outdated legacy copper telecom lines with modern, digital, IP-based solutions. It begins with assessing your communication needs, existing infrastructure, and the systems you use, such as alarms, elevators, or fax machines.3
How much notice will I get before my copper lines are discontinued?
It depends on the carrier and the type of notice. Grandfathering notices stop new orders and changes. Once a full copper retirement notice is issued, customers may have only 180 days to move to an alternative solution.3 AT&T’s November 15, 2026 date was communicated to affected customers in November 2025.1
Sources
1. Jake Neenan, “AT&T Approved to Discontinue Service at More Than 30% of Copper Footprint This Year,” Broadband Breakfast, January 13, 2026. https://broadbandbreakfast.com/at-t-approved-to-discontinue-service-at-more-than-30-of-copper-footprint-this-year/
2. Federal Communications Commission, “FCC Takes Action to Speed Up Rollout of Modern, High-Speed Networks,” news release, March 26, 2026 (FCC 26-19). https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-420132A1.pdf
3. MetTel, “Copper Retirement Bulletin: What to Know About Recent FCC Announcements and Rapid Escalation of Carrier Notices,” September 2026. https://www.mettel.net/resource/datasheet/copper-retirement-bulletin/
4. Light Reading, “AT&T’s copper retirement plan plows ahead.” https://www.lightreading.com/broadband/at-t-s-copper-retirement-plan-plows-ahead
5. Broadband Breakfast, “FCC Hits Pause on Verizon’s Copper Retirement Plan.” https://broadbandbreakfast.com/fcc-hits-pause-on-verizons-copper-retirement-plan/
6. Broadband Breakfast, “ISPs Want to Continue to Discontinue Copper Service,” August 21, 2026. https://broadbandbreakfast.com/isps-want-to-continue-to-discontinue-copper-service/
7. Broadband Breakfast, “FCC Needs More Time to Look at Verizon Copper Retirement,” September 29, 2026. https://broadbandbreakfast.com/fcc-needs-more-time-to-look-at-verizon-copper-retirement/