Reach out and touch no one

AT&T is discontinuing its legacy landline system in 2029.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...ndline-copper-phone-service-2029/76765766007/

The plan is to build out the fiber network and allow remaining customers to connect to it via already-existing phone jacks with an adaptor. And they are correct that fiber will provide better call quality and lower maintenance costs for Ma Bell. The catch is that the existing copper lines don’t need the electricity to be on in order to work. Fiber does.

Mostly this will only interest technical geeks and folks like me who used to work for “the phone company.” But it does get into issues of legal responsibility and equitable access for what remains a regulated utility. They are having to keep the old network going in California for example because that state denied the permission needed to abandon the current network.