Copper phone line retirement report: September 2026
In September 2026, the FCC published notice of 7 filings to stop copper phone service, from 3 phone companies. They cover 2,945 telephone exchanges we track in 21 states, 830 of them in a filing for the first time.
The numbers
- Filings
- 7
- Exchanges covered
- 2,945
- First time in a filing
- 830
- States with exchanges covered
- 21
1 of these exchanges are named in a filing. 2,944 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | 1 | 2,653 | AL, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MO, MS, NC, NV, OH, TN, TX, WI |
| Lumen (CenturyLink) | 2 | 152 | IA, NM, UT |
| Consolidated Communications | 4 | 140 | IL, PA, TX, VT |
The filings
AT&T, FCC docket 26-276
Business copper phone services (business lines, PBX trunks, ISDN and similar) in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
Public notice September 30, 2026; date in the filing November 5, 2026. Covers 2,653 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Lumen (CenturyLink), FCC docket 26-242
Legacy voice service in cities in Iowa and Utah.
Public notice September 2, 2026; date in the filing October 18, 2026. Covers 151 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-262
Legacy voice service in at locations in two exchanges in Vermont that are passed by fiber.
Public notice September 17, 2026; date in the filing December 1, 2026. Covers 107 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-260
Legacy voice service in at locations in two exchanges in Texas that are passed by fiber.
Public notice September 17, 2026; date in the filing December 1, 2026. Covers 21 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-261
Legacy voice service in at locations in two exchanges in Pennsylvania that are passed by fiber.
Public notice September 17, 2026; date in the filing December 1, 2026. Covers 11 exchanges we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Lumen (CenturyLink), FCC docket 26-247
Phone lines on the copper network (legacy voice service) in a portion of the Fort Wingate, New Mexico wire center.
Public notice September 9, 2026; date in the filing December 7, 2026. Covers 1 exchange we track.
Consolidated Communications, FCC docket 26-259
Legacy voice service in at locations in three exchanges in Illinois that are passed by fiber.
Public notice September 17, 2026; date in the filing December 1, 2026. Covers 1 exchange we track (portions of the state, not every address).
Dates in September 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.
- September 8, 2026: Frontier, docket 26-115, 88 exchanges (AL, GA, IA, MS, TN)
- September 8, 2026: Frontier, docket 26-116, 88 exchanges (AL, GA, IA, MS, TN)
- September 8, 2026: Lumen (CenturyLink), docket 26-135 (AL)
- September 12, 2026: AT&T, docket 26-162, 1,170 exchanges (AL, FL, GA, KS, KY, MS, NC, TN, more)
- September 17, 2026: Consolidated Communications, docket 26-202, 120 exchanges (NH)
- September 30, 2026: AT&T, docket 26-201, 456 exchanges (AL, LA, MS)
- September 30, 2026: Consolidated Communications, docket 26-232, 12 exchanges (MN)
Other services
3 other filings this month were for services other than ordinary copper phone lines (VoIP products, data circuits, long distance): Transworld (26-241), Network Innovations (26-243), Optimum (26-246).
Running total
Through September 2026: 144 copper phone line filings with an FCC public notice, covering 6,550 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.