CWA and Bandwidth Question AT&T Moves to Retire Parts of Copper Network
The Communications Workers of America and Bandwidth separately opposed AT&T’s moves to close additional parts of its legacy copper network (see 2501310046). AT&T CEO John Stankey said in January that the carrier plans to file applications at the FCC to stop selling legacy products in about 1,300 wire centers, which is roughly a quarter of the AT&T footprint (see 2501270047). AT&T started the push during the last administration and is taking a more aggressive approach at the current FCC.
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CWA said AT&T’s recent applications for Communications Act Section 214 grandfathering and discontinuance cover 250,000 square miles of territory, or about 50% of its historic footprint. “Instead of allowing the largest telecommunications provider in the country to abandon such a large swath of territory, the Commission should chart a more measured approach that ensures the availability of wireline service for all households,” CWA said in a filing last week in docket 25-45.
“Unfortunately, instead of replacing copper lines with fiber-optic cable, AT&T intends to dump customers in more than half of its territory off its landlines and leave many of them with only wireless or satellite options,” CWA said. The union questioned whether the wireless and satellite alternatives AT&T plans to deploy are equivalent to fiber.
Software provider Bandwidth called on the FCC to require AT&T to address how it intends to continue meeting Section 251 and 252 interconnection obligations. “The AT&T Application is subject to the Commission’s standards for discontinuance, reduction, and impairment of services,” Bandwidth said. FCC standards “require consideration of financial impacts of providing the service; the need for the service; the need for the specific facilities in question; the availability of alternative services; and the potential for increased costs for substitute services.”
AT&T also ignores the effect of its proposed grandfathering on interconnection and 911, Bandwidth said. AT&T is required to provide interconnection under Section 251 of the act, “but it has made no provision to continue interconnection when DS1 and DS3 contracts end,” the company said.
Legacy copper services no longer meet customers’ “needs for speed, reliability" and always-on connectivity, an AT&T spokesperson said in an email Monday. The spokesperson noted that AT&T is one of the largest U.S. employers of union employees. “We’re proud to be America’s largest fiber builder and recently announced plans to reach 50 million locations by the end of 2029,” the spokesperson said. “We’re committed to providing connectivity to all of our customers, including those in rural America, whether with fiber, wireless or satellite options. Through this transition, no customer will be left without voice or 911 service.”