GEORGIA + TEXAS / COPPER LANDLINE RETIREMENT
AT&T has filed with the FCC to discontinue copper phone service in parts of Georgia and Texas. The main number is the easy part. The alarm panel, elevator phone, fax and card terminal that quietly use a copper line are what get missed.
The checklist is free and runs in your browser. An inquiry is free; a technology assessment is a fixed $295.
WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING
Updated October 6, 2026. Dates below are copied from the FCC notices; check for newer filings.
A telephone company needs FCC authorization under Section 214 of the Communications Act to discontinue a service. AT&T has filed a series of these applications to stop selling traditional copper lines (“POTS”) in parts of its local phone territory, including areas of Georgia and Texas. Each FCC public notice lists the affected services, the wire centers or states involved and the earliest date AT&T may discontinue service once the application is granted (FCC Section 214 discontinuance overview).
In January 2026, Broadband Breakfast reported that the FCC had approved an AT&T application covering about 90,000 customers in 18 states, including Georgia and Texas, with discontinuance effective November 15, 2026. It also reported AT&T’s plan to retire the large majority of its copper network outside California by the end of 2029 (Broadband Breakfast, Jan. 13, 2026). The FCC notices we checked that name Georgia or Texas:
GA + TX
WC Docket 25-228. Residential and business POTS in portions of certain wire centers in 17 states, including Georgia and Texas. FCC public notice DA 25-667, released July 25, 2025.
TX
WC Docket 26-98. Residential and business POTS and AT&T’s residential wireline VoIP in portions of listed wire centers, including Houston–Satsuma, McAllen and Victoria, Texas. FCC public notice DA 26-459, released May 11, 2026.
GA + TX
WC Docket 26-162. Residential and business POTS and AT&T’s wireline VoIP services in portions of 39 wire centers in 14 states, including Georgia and Texas. FCC public notice DA 26-724, released July 13, 2026.
GA + TX
WC Docket 26-192. Residential and business POTS and AT&T’s wireline VoIP services in portions of 55 wire centers in 13 states, including Georgia and Texas. FCC public notice DA 26-790, released July 29, 2026.
GA
WC Docket 26-200. Business POTS in portions of certain wire centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee. FCC public notice DA 26-861, released August 14, 2026.
GA + TX
WC Docket 26-224. Residential and business POTS and AT&T’s wireline VoIP services in portions of certain wire centers in 10 states, including Georgia and Texas. The notice said it would be deemed granted on October 5, 2026 unless the FCC said otherwise. FCC public notice DA 26-942, released September 4, 2026.
Every date above is the earliest date AT&T may discontinue service in the covered areas. Each filing covers only portions of the listed wire centers, so a neighbor on the same street can be on a different schedule. Many Georgia and Texas businesses buy copper lines from AT&T, but some areas are served by other local phone companies with their own plans. Use your carrier’s written notice for each service address and each line, and call the business number on your bill if you have not received one. Independent trackers such as BCN’s POTS and copper retirement tracker are useful for orientation; confirm anything you act on against the FCC notice and your carrier.
THE RULES GOT FASTER
On March 20, 2025 the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau waived, for two years, the requirement that a stand-alone replacement voice service be available, so a bundled service can qualify. It also waived filing requirements for network-change notices, including copper retirements, and for grandfathering legacy services (Broadband Breakfast, Mar. 20, 2025; the waiver is cited as DA 25-248 in the FCC notices above).
On March 26, 2026 the FCC adopted a Report and Order (FCC 26-19) that consolidates technology-transition discontinuance rules, gives carriers blanket authority to grandfather copper-based voice and low-speed data services, applies the 31-day automatic grant to all discontinuance applications and finds conflicting state and local requirements subject to preemption (FCC 26-19).
Most of the order took effect May 20, 2026 (Federal Register, Apr. 20, 2026). The remaining discontinuance and network-change rule amendments take effect October 15, 2026 (Federal Register, Oct. 1, 2026).
Faster approvals mean less time between a notice and a cutoff. The FCC acknowledged alarm-industry concerns about dialer-based alarm panels and encouraged carriers to configure their IP networks to prevent alarm signaling failures, but declined to add a new compatibility requirement. Testing your own equipment is your job.
WHAT QUIETLY BREAKS
AT&T’s own business guidance lists fax machines, elevator emergency phones, fire alarms, security systems and credit card processors among the systems that still rely on POTS, and notes that fire alarms and emergency lines may have strict code requirements (AT&T Business, POTS line replacement). Walk every location and trace each number on your bill.
Main and fax-back numbers, a hunt group into an older phone system, a direct line in a back office. Decide the replacement, protect the numbers by porting them and confirm the 911 location for each.
Many older panels report to a monitoring center by dialing out over a phone line. If that line goes dead, the panel may stop reporting without obvious symptoms. Your alarm company can tell you how yours communicates.
Fire alarm reporting is regulated by the fire code adopted where you are. Any change to how the panel communicates must go through your fire alarm contractor and be accepted by the local authority having jurisdiction.
The phone in the car is a code-required safety device. Your elevator service company must supply and test the replacement, and the change may need to be documented for inspection.
Older or backup terminals may dial a processor over a phone line. Ask your processor or POS vendor whether yours can use internet or cellular, and keep a backup path for busy days.
Fax over an internet phone line can be unreliable unless the service and device are set up for it. Decide whether you still need fax, then choose fax over IP, an online fax service or a dedicated adapter, and test it.
Telephone-entry panels often dial a phone number to let visitors in. They can usually move to cellular or VoIP, but the installer has to reprogram and test them.
Modems on network equipment, building controls, meters and older equipment are easy to forget. Find out which ones still matter and replace them with a cellular or network-based path.
Fire alarm communicators and elevator emergency phones are governed by codes your local authority adopts and enforces. Do not let a carrier technician, a phone vendor (including us) or a generic adapter change them on its own. Call the company that services the fire alarm or elevator, ask what replacement it supports and whether a permit, inspection or acceptance test is needed, and confirm with the authority having jurisdiction, usually the local fire marshal or building official. Get the answer in writing before the copper line is disconnected.
REPLACEMENT OPTIONS
For people who make and take calls. Your numbers move to an internet-based phone service, either hosted in the cloud or on an on-site system, with call routing, voicemail and a plan for power and internet outages. Your carrier may also offer its own replacement; AT&T, for example, sells AT&T Phone for Business. Compare it like any other option.
For equipment that expects a dial tone: alarm panels, elevator phones, gate entry, card terminals. A dedicated device or cellular communicator supplies the connection, ideally with battery backup. For life-safety lines, only use what the system’s own service company supports.
For fax. Fax over IP keeps the existing machine on a line built for fax; an online fax service sends and receives as documents. If you handle regulated records, confirm the service meets your obligations before switching.
NUMBERS + TIMELINE
List every number on each bill (ask the carrier for the customer service record) and trace what each is plugged into at each location. Note the date on any notice. Our free checklist turns your answers into a list with who to call.
Fire alarm, security alarm and elevator companies get the first calls because equipment, permits and inspections can take the longest.
Pick the phone service, communicators, fax and terminal paths. Order early enough to install and test well before the notice date.
Gather the account number, any port PIN or passcode and the customer service record. Submit the port to the new provider and let the completed port move the number. Do not cancel the old line yourself first, or the number may be lost.
Place real calls, send a test alarm signal to the monitoring center, call from the elevator car, run a card and send a fax. Record who tested what and when, and keep the notes with your building records.
QUESTIONS BUSINESSES ASK
Not necessarily, and not necessarily on a filed date. AT&T’s FCC filings cover portions of specific wire centers, and each lists the earliest date service may be discontinued (on or after). Only your carrier’s notice for your service address tells you whether, and when, your line is affected.
Check postal mail, the email on the account and bill messages for words such as discontinue, copper, legacy service or upgrade. If you cannot find one, call the business customer service number on your bill and ask, line by line, whether each number is scheduled for discontinuance and on what date.
Do not assume it will. These lines are regulated by fire and elevator codes. Ask your fire alarm or elevator service company which replacement communicator they support, and confirm with your local authority having jurisdiction before the copper line is disconnected. In its 2026 order the FCC acknowledged alarm-industry concerns and encouraged carriers to configure their IP networks to prevent alarm signaling failures, but it declined to add a new compatibility requirement.
Usually, if you port them to the new provider before the old service ends. Gather the account number, any port PIN or passcode and the customer service record first, and do not cancel the old service yourself; the completed port moves the number. Some numbers used only by an alarm panel or elevator may not need to be kept, so ask before porting them.
If a card terminal dials out over a phone line, ask your payment processor about an internet or cellular connection or a replacement terminal. For fax, decide whether you still need it; fax over IP or an online fax service can replace the line, but test it with the people you actually fax.
No. Those should be replaced by the licensed company that services the alarm or elevator. UrbanBytez plans business phone systems, number moves and the network they run on, and can include those other lines in the inventory and timeline for your phone project.
An inquiry is free. A technology assessment is a fixed $295. Phone system projects receive a tailored, itemized quotation, and network implementation starts from $1,495 in labor; equipment and carrier service are quoted separately.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Answer a few questions and get a printable checklist for each kind of line, with priorities and who to call. Nothing you enter leaves your browser. When you are ready to move your main numbers to a new business phone system, tell us about your lines.
UrbanBytez plans business phone systems, firewalls, custom DNS/DHCP and custom applications, with remote service for Atlanta, Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston. An inquiry is free; a technology assessment is a fixed $295. Phone systems receive an itemized quotation; network implementation starts from $1,495 in labor, and equipment is quoted separately. Call (770) 904-1800.
You can also email sales@urbanbytezllc.com. Do not send passwords, account PINs or payment details.
SOURCES
This guide is general information, not legal, fire-code or elevator-code advice. Filings can change; your carrier’s notice and your authority having jurisdiction have the final word.