Copper phone line retirement report: April 2026
In April 2026, the FCC published notice of 4 filings to stop copper phone service, from 2 phone companies. They cover 443 telephone exchanges we track in 14 states, 11 of them in a filing for the first time.
The numbers
- Filings
- 4
- Exchanges covered
- 443
- First time in a filing
- 11
- States with exchanges covered
- 14
30 of these exchanges are named in a filing. 413 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 | 413 | ME, NH, PA, VT |
| AT&T | 1 | 30 | AL, AR, IN, KS, MO, OH, OK, SC, TX, WI |
The filings
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-91
Legacy voice service in at locations in three exchanges in Maine and 36 exchanges in New Hampshire that are passed by fiber.
Public notice April 22, 2026; date in the filing July 14, 2026. Covers 295 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-92
Legacy voice service in at locations in nine exchanges in Vermont that are passed by fiber.
Public notice April 22, 2026; date in the filing July 14, 2026. Covers 107 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
AT&T, FCC docket 26-98
Home and business phone lines on the copper network in in portions of the following AT&T wire centers: Aiken, SC (AIKNSCMA); Athens, AL (ATHNALMA); Auburn, IN (AUBNIN01), Boca Main, FL (BCRTFLMA); Bucksville, AL (BSMRALBU); Boynton, FL (BYBHFLMA); Cottonwood Falls, KS (CTFLKSBR); Emporia, KS (EMPRKS08); Eufaula, AL (EUFLALMA); Florence, SC (FLRNSCMA); Gravette, AR (GRVTARMA); Henryetta, OK (HNRYOKMA); Houston- Satsuma, TX (HSTNTXSA); Joplin, MO (JPLNM.
Public notice April 28, 2026; date in the filing July 14, 2026. Covers 30 exchanges we track.
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-90
Legacy voice service in at locations in one exchange in Pennsylvania that are passed by fiber.
Public notice April 22, 2026; date in the filing July 14, 2026. Covers 11 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Dates in April 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.
- April 1, 2026: AT&T, docket 25-346, 6 exchanges (AR, KS, OK, TX)
- April 20, 2026: Lumen (CenturyLink), docket 26-55, 3 exchanges (IA, UT)
Other services
2 other filings this month were for services other than ordinary copper phone lines (VoIP products, data circuits, long distance): Verizon (26-86), Lumos (26-89).
Running total
Through April 2026: 93 copper phone line filings with an FCC public notice, covering 3,130 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.