AT&T Speeds Copper Network Retirement After Closing 100 Wire Centers

AT&T is accelerating the retirement of its copper network, having shuttered 100 wire centers and decommissioned copper-based services in over 500 communities covering 1.3 million locations across 18 states, the carrier said. The company expects to complete the shutdown in an additional 1,500 communities over the next year, Yahoo reported on October 25, 2026.

AT&T's Copper Retirement and Customer Migration

AT&T said in 2024 that it planned to shut down most of its copper network by 2030 and move affected customers to wireless or fiber-based services. The carrier has submitted applications this year to retire its legacy copper landline network in parts of California. The FCC said AT&T can begin powering down about 360 of its 615 wire centers in the state on or after June 1, 2027.

"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," said Susan Johnson, AT&T's senior executive vice president, in an interview with Light Reading. On customer migrations, she added: "You're going to see scale pretty materially from here on out."

AT&T Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches said on the company's October 21 earnings call that service revenues in its legacy segment declined 25% year over year in the third quarter, while legacy EBITDA dipped by roughly 27%. "Copper retirement remains an integral part of our overall cost transformation, and we remain on pace to achieve our target of $4 billion in annual consolidated cost savings by the end of 2028," Desroches said.

AT&T is not alone in retiring copper. In August, Verizon submitted an application to the FCC seeking approval to shut down its traditional copper landline phone service in portions of nine states, affecting about 277,000 residential and business legacy voice lines. Verizon said in the filing that maintaining the service costs are "enormous," with the company spending billions of dollars annually.

AT&T's Network Investment and Scale

AT&T connects over 100 million U.S. customers across wireless and fiber services, according to akta.pro company records. The carrier reported 120.1 million postpaid subscribers, ranking third among U.S. carriers behind T-Mobile and Verizon. AT&T reached 32 million fiber locations at the end of 2025, with plans to exceed 40 million by the end of 2026 and a target of 60 million fiber locations by the end of 2030.

Earlier AT&T Developments

In October 2026, AT&T and T-Mobile moved to tighten AI guardrails amid cybersecurity concerns over AI agents automating workflows, Reuters reported. Also in October 2026, Jackson officials said AT&T overbilled the city by $1.3 million for phone services they say were not rendered, a claim AT&T disputes, Yahoo reported. In October 2026, KDC, a Dallas-based developer, sought about $3.5 billion in private financing to build AT&T's new global headquarters in Plano, Texas, Bloomberg reported.

California Wire Center Timeline

The FCC said AT&T can begin powering down about 360 of its 615 wire centers in California on or after June 1, 2027.