Copper phone line retirement report: January 2026
In January 2026, the FCC published notice of 6 filings to stop copper phone service, from 4 phone companies. They cover 494 telephone exchanges we track in 22 states.
The numbers
- Filings
- 6
- Exchanges covered
- 494
- First time in a filing
- 0
- States with exchanges covered
- 22
494 are in areas where a filing covers portions of a state without listing places, so not every address in them is included.
By phone company
| Phone company | Filings | Exchanges covered | States with exchanges covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Communications | 3 | 403 | IL, ME, NH, VT |
| Lumen (CenturyLink) | 1 | 91 | FL |
| WVT Fiber | 1 | 0 | NY |
| Granite Telecommunications | 1 | 0 | AL, AR, FL, GA, IN, KY, LA, MI, MO, MS, NC, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, WI |
The filings
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-6
Legacy voice service in at locations in twelve exchanges in Maine and seven exchanges in New Hampshire that are passed by fiber.
Public notice January 7, 2026; date in the filing March 24, 2026. Covers 295 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-7
Legacy voice service in at locations in five exchanges in Vermont that are passed by fiber.
Public notice January 7, 2026; date in the filing March 24, 2026. Covers 107 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Lumen (CenturyLink), FCC docket 26-8
Legacy voice service in in portions of Kenansville, Florida.
Public notice January 8, 2026; date in the filing March 31, 2026. Covers 91 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-5
Legacy voice service in at locations in one exchange in Illinois that are passed by fiber.
Public notice January 7, 2026; date in the filing March 24, 2026. Covers 1 exchange we track (portions of the state, not every address).
WVT Fiber, FCC docket 26-4
Plain Old Telephone Services also known as “POTS” and telecommunications data services available to business customers, including DS1 service in Middletown, NY.
Public notice January 7, 2026; date in the filing February 9, 2026.
Granite Telecommunications, FCC docket 26-24
Resold legacy TDM-based business local exchange service in in certain wire centers located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Public notice January 30, 2026; date in the filing June 30, 2026.
Dates in January 2026
Filings whose requested date falls this month. A date in a filing is when the phone company asked to stop service, not proof that it has.
- January 27, 2026: Consolidated Communications, docket 25-282, 11 exchanges (PA)
- January 27, 2026: Consolidated Communications, docket 25-283, 107 exchanges (VT)
- January 27, 2026: Consolidated Communications, docket 25-284, 295 exchanges (ME, NH)
- January 27, 2026: Consolidated Communications, docket 25-285, 1 exchange (IL)
- January 27, 2026: Consolidated Communications, docket 25-286, 21 exchanges (TX)
Running total
Through January 2026: 75 copper phone line filings with an FCC public notice, covering 3,111 telephone exchanges we track. See the full timeline or browse by state and town.
Is your line on a filing?
Each town page also has a free email alert for new filings.
How we count
- A month's filings are the ones whose FCC public notice is dated that month.
- State counts are the states where we track exchanges a filing covers. A filing can list more states than that, for example where the company is not the local phone company.
- An exchange is a telephone exchange (rate center) with a town page on this site. Some filings name exchanges or wire centers; others cover portions of a state without listing places, and we count the exchanges in those areas separately.
- A filing is a request. The phone company has to notify affected customers in writing before it changes their service.
- Sources: FCC public notices and the Electronic Comment Filing System, linked from each filing page. This product uses FCC APIs and/or Data but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.
Data as of November 2, 2026, from FCC public notices. Not legal or regulatory advice.