AT&T sues California in attempt to shut off old phone network
AT&T sues California in attempt to shut off old phone network
AT&T 起诉加州，试图关闭老旧电话网络
AT&T sued California yesterday over the state’s refusal to let the carrier stop providing phone service to all potential customers in its wireline network territory. AT&T is also asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to declare that California cannot enforce its rules and to let AT&T stop providing service to about 199,000 phone customers.
AT&T 昨日起诉加州，原因是该州拒绝允许其停止向其有线网络覆盖范围内的所有潜在客户提供电话服务。AT&T 同时请求美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）宣布加州无权强制执行其相关规定，并允许 AT&T 停止向约 19.9 万名电话用户提供服务。
“California requires AT&T to spend $1 billion each year to maintain a century-old telephone network that almost no one uses,” AT&T said in a lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Southern District of California. “The copper wires that once served every home now serve just three percent of households in AT&T’s California territory, with consumers fleeing every day to modern broadband services that are more affordable, reliable, and energy-efficient.”
“加州要求 AT&T 每年花费 10 亿美元来维护一个几乎无人使用的百年电话网络，”AT&T 在提交给美国加州南区联邦地区法院的诉状中表示。“曾经服务于每家每户的铜线，如今仅服务于 AT&T 加州业务区内 3% 的家庭，消费者每天都在转向更经济、更可靠且更节能的现代宽带服务。”
In June 2024, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) rejected AT&T’s request to eliminate the Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligation that requires it to provide landline telephone service to any potential customer in its service territory. AT&T has said it’s received relief from COLR obligations in 20 of the 21 states in its wireline service territory, all except California.
2024 年 6 月，加州公用事业委员会（CPUC）驳回了 AT&T 的请求，该请求旨在取消其作为“最后手段运营商”（COLR）的义务，即要求其必须向服务区域内的任何潜在客户提供固定电话服务。AT&T 表示，在其开展有线业务的 21 个州中，除加州外，其余 20 个州均已免除了其 COLR 义务。
“The federal government and virtually all States where AT&T historically offered POTS [Plain Old Telephone Service] have now eliminated outdated regulatory obstacles, allowing AT&T to begin powering down its POTS network and increasing its investments in modern communication technologies. California stands alone in resisting this progress,” AT&T’s lawsuit said.
“联邦政府以及 AT&T 历史上提供 POTS（传统老式电话服务）的几乎所有州，现在都已经消除了过时的监管障碍，允许 AT&T 开始关闭其 POTS 网络，并增加对现代通信技术的投资。加州是唯一阻碍这一进步的州，”AT&T 的诉状中写道。
AT&T complained that its “barely used copper network is an easy mark for criminals—California has already suffered about 2,000 outages from copper thefts this year—and drains the power grid of over 100 million kilowatt-hours each year.”
AT&T 抱怨称，其“几乎无人使用的铜线网络很容易成为犯罪分子的目标——今年加州已因铜线盗窃导致约 2,000 次停电——并且每年消耗电网超过 1 亿千瓦时的电力。”
AT&T won’t upgrade all lines to fiber
AT&T 不会全面升级至光纤
AT&T has argued for years that California is preventing it from replacing copper with more modern technology. But California officials say AT&T is allowed to upgrade the copper lines with better technology. “The Commission does not have rules preventing AT&T from retiring copper facilities. Furthermore, the Commission does not have rules preventing AT&T from investing in fiber or other facilities/technologies to improve its network,” the CPUC said in its 2024 decision against AT&T.
多年来，AT&T 一直辩称加州阻碍了其用更现代的技术取代铜线。但加州官员表示，AT&T 完全可以利用更好的技术升级铜线。“委员会没有任何规定阻止 AT&T 淘汰铜线设施。此外，委员会也没有规定阻止 AT&T 投资光纤或其他设施/技术来改善其网络，”CPUC 在 2024 年针对 AT&T 的裁决中表示。
The CPUC said the state’s “COLR rules are technology-neutral and do not distinguish between voice services offered… and do not prevent AT&T from retiring copper facilities or from investing in fiber or other facilities/technologies to improve its network.”
CPUC 指出，该州的“COLR 规则是技术中立的，不对所提供的语音服务进行区分……也不会阻止 AT&T 淘汰铜线设施，或投资光纤及其他设施/技术来改善其网络。”
AT&T doesn’t want to upgrade all copper customers to fiber. It has told investors it intends to build fiber home Internet in much of its wireline footprint, prioritizing the most densely populated and thus most profitable areas. But in about half of its wireline territory, AT&T has a “wireless first” plan in which copper phone lines would be replaced only by wireless technology.
AT&T 并不打算将所有铜线用户升级为光纤。该公司已告知投资者，计划在其大部分有线业务覆盖范围内建设光纤家庭互联网，优先考虑人口最密集、利润最高的地区。但在约一半的有线业务区域，AT&T 采取了“无线优先”计划，即仅通过无线技术取代铜线电话线路。
The CPUC in 2024 noted that members of the public raised concerns about “the unreliability of voice alternatives such as mobile wireless or VoIP.” The agency said that by dismissing AT&T’s request to withdraw as the Carrier of Last Resort, “the CPUC reaffirms its commitment to safeguard access to essential services and maintain regulatory oversight of the telecommunications industry.”
CPUC 在 2024 年指出，公众对“移动无线或 VoIP 等语音替代方案的不可靠性”表示担忧。该机构表示，通过驳回 AT&T 退出“最后手段运营商”的请求，“CPUC 重申了其保障基本服务获取权并维持对电信行业监管的承诺。”
AT&T seeks FCC preemption
AT&T 寻求 FCC 的优先管辖权
AT&T’s lawsuit said it wants to replace copper lines with fiber and wireless offerings, and that both fiber and wireless are good enough to meet residents’ needs. Wireless options include the nationwide AT&T mobile service and AT&T Phone-Advanced, a VoIP service that relies on the mobile network. AT&T said that “the FCC has repeatedly found [AT&T Phone-Advanced] to be an adequate replacement for POTS.”
AT&T 的诉状称，其希望用光纤和无线产品取代铜线，并认为光纤和无线技术足以满足居民需求。无线选项包括全国性的 AT&T 移动服务和依赖移动网络的 VoIP 服务“AT&T Phone-Advanced”。AT&T 表示，“FCC 已多次认定 [AT&T Phone-Advanced] 是 POTS 的充分替代品。”
Under Chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC has been inclined to grant the wishes of carriers seeking to ditch old networks. AT&T’s lawsuit cites a March 2026 order in which the FCC 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.
在主席 Brendan Carr 的领导下，FCC 倾向于满足运营商放弃老旧网络的愿望。AT&T 的诉状引用了 2026 年 3 月的一项命令，该命令使运营商更容易停止铜线网络，并断言如果州级规则与 FCC 的停用授权和权力相冲突，则必须服从 FCC 的优先管辖权。
AT&T asked the court for “a declaration that any California law or regulation that interferes with AT&T’s ability to grandfather POTS, as authorized by the FCC in the NMO [Network Modernization Order], is unlawful,” and “injunctive relief to preclude California officials from applying those laws or regulations to prevent or slow AT&T from grandfathering POTS.”
AT&T 请求法院“宣布任何干扰 AT&T 根据 FCC 在 NMO（网络现代化命令）中授权保留 POTS 能力的加州法律或法规均为非法”，并寻求“禁令救济，以阻止加州官员应用这些法律或法规来阻止或减缓 AT&T 保留 POTS 的进程。”
AT&T yesterday also submitted petitions asking the FCC to intervene directly in California. One petition asks for permission to discontinue copper-based service to 184,000 residential customers and another asks for permission to discontinue copper service to 15,000 business customers.
AT&T 昨日还提交了请愿书，请求 FCC 直接干预加州事务。其中一份请愿书请求批准停止向 18.4 万名住宅客户提供基于铜线的服务，另一份则请求批准停止向 1.5 万名商业客户提供铜线服务。