When landline service goes away, consumers and businesses face tough choices

The times they are a-changin' when it comes to landline telephone service. Since the Federal Communications Commission streamlined its rules for copper retirement in March 2026, telephone companies have been accelerating their transition away from legacy copper networks and increasingly retiring the plain-old-telephone service that runs over them. In March 2026, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the new rules will help service providers save billions of dollars a year from not having to maintain copper lines for a dwindling number of consumers. But many consumers are taken by surprise when they receive a notification from their long-time telephone provider that their landline service is being discontinued.