Source: Action News Now | By Ainsley Van Reusen

Rural and county representatives are backing California in a legal fight to protect reliable phone service for all residents.  The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Attorney General in a lawsuit brought by AT&T. The groups partnered with The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) to file the brief.

According to RCRC and CSAC, AT&T is seeking to end its Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligations, which require the company to provide basic telephone service to all Californians. The organizations say those obligations help ensure residents have access to reliable communications during disasters, power outages and other emergencies.

Source: YubaNet.com | By Rural County

The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), in partnership with The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), have filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the state Attorney General in a lawsuit initiated by AT&T. The lawsuit seeks to relieve AT&T of its Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligations and clear the way for the discontinuation of universal service in California.

COLR obligations ensure that all Californians have access to basic telephone service, safeguarding essential communications during disasters, power outages, and other emergencies when public safety is at risk.  

Source: Communications Daily | By Philip Athey

In the lawsuit, AT&T sought a court order to block the CPUC from requiring it to continue offering copper wire service to new customers.  Ryan Johnston, a telecom and regulatory attorney with The Utility Reform Network (TURN), said that despite AT&T’s claims, nearly 200,000 California residents still need that copper wire service.

AT&T has fought for years within California to loosen the state’s carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations, but after a newly released order from the FCC, the company has taken the fight to the national level -- a significant escalation, according to consumer advocates. While the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has said that COLR rules are technology-neutral, AT&T, the biggest COLR in the state, maintains that they are a de facto requirement to provide copper service to hundreds of thousands of residents.

Source: The Mercury News | By Ethan Baron

 It backed a failed 2016 bill in the California Legislature that would have allowed the withdrawal. When the utility applied to the California Public Utilities Commission in 2023 to end landline service, thousands of people flooded the commission’s website with comments in opposition.  At the time, consumer group The Utility Reform Network estimated hundreds of thousands of households in the Bay Area and millions around California would lose landline service if the commission approved AT&T’s proposal.

The utility’s lengthy battle to end its landline business has raised alarms that during earthquakes, fires, floods and storms, landline customers could be cut off from help, because cell phone infrastructure and internet service can be damaged or disrupted.  The company has pledged to state regulators that it would only shut down a customer’s landline service when other options exist. But consumer advocates say landlines are key in disasters or in areas with poor cellular reception, and many people who would lose that service would lack reliable alternatives even if AT&T determined they had them.

Source: The Press Democrat | By Marisa Endicott

“AT&T has taken that and run with it,” said Regina Costa, telecommunications policy director for the Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group.  “It’s a lot of places,” Costa said, listing off Calistoga in Napa County and Middletown, Lakeport and Kelseyville in Lake County as examples. “All of these places have had wildfires, and the argument is from AT&T, ‘Well, they have alternative services,’ but the flip side of this is, are they reliable?”

AT&T has redoubled efforts to end its obligation to provide basic phone service, and especially landlines, across large swaths of California. After failed regulatory bids and a legislative workaround last year, the telecom giant has now taken its yearslong fight to the federal level and the courts.  AT&T has insisted the state’s regulatory system, which requires the utility to provide reliable voice connection to anyone in its service areas, is outdated. And, the increasing resources needed to maintain landline infrastructure used by a shrinking number of Californians, the utility contends, divert from investments in better, modern alternatives.

Source: The Press Democrat | By Ethan Baron

At the time, the Utility Reform Network estimated hundreds of thousands of households in the Bay Area and millions around California would lose landline service if the commission approved AT&T’s proposal.

Seeking to override state authorities and cut landline service across California, utility giant AT&T filed a federal court complaint Wednesday against California regulators and submitted two petitions to the Federal Communications Commission, the latest volley in its years-long battle to withdraw the service.

Source: Communications Daily | By Philip Athey

The Utility Reform Network (TURN) called the joint proposal “a giant step backward for consumers” that would “widen the digital divide,” even with the “small number” of fiber deployments that it includes. In comments filed Friday, TURN also pointed out a number of disagreements that Cal Advocates and AT&T seem to have even within their proposal, including whether the “relief areas” should be geographically contiguous, whether there should be extra enforcement mechanisms beyond what's in the proposal, and whether California Lifeline participation should be perpetual or limited to just five years.

Independent consumer advocacy organizations called on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to reject a proposal that would allow telecom providers in the state to relinquish their carrier of last resort (COLR) status in exchange for fiber expansion in areas where broadband is already largely available.  

Source: CBS 8 | By Brian White

TURN is advocating for stricter repair timelines and penalties, while warning that AT&T is pushing to loosen those requirements.  “TURN is filing comments and fighting for rules for AT&T and other companies to have faster response time when the service goes out and put teeth in those so they would have to pay bigger fines," Toney said. "That’s what motivates a big company like AT&T. You['ve] got to hit them in the pocketbook or else they have no motivation.”

The outage was caused by storm damage in February, when high winds knocked out key infrastructure. According to AT&T, two critical relay towers were severely damaged. While some areas in Julian have seen service restored, more remote communities like Shelter Valley and Butterfield continue to face prolonged disruptions.  For residents, the lack of reliable communication is more than an inconvenience; it’s a serious safety concern.

Source: Communications Daily | By Philip Athey

Securus argued that it did submit some cost data that was previously filed with the FCC while the federal regulator was working on national price caps for IPCS, but the accuracy of that data has been questioned, including by the Utilities Reform Network (TURN).  “By its own terms, the PD [proposed decision says] that this submission was not sufficiently detailed to substantiate Securus’ claims,” TURN’s filing said. "As TURN observed in reply comments on the staff proposal, the FCC determined that the information submitted by Securus was 'imperfect and cannot simply be taken at face value.’"

Prison phone service providers called for the California Public Utilities Commission to reject a new rule that would lower the cap on rates they can charge for intrastate calls by inmates in the state. The final vote on the rule is set for CPUC's March 19 meeting.

Source: CalMatters | By Yue Stella Yu and Malena Carollo

AT&T’s real goal is to boost its bottom line, said Regina Costa, a Hacienda resident and telecom policy director for The Utility Reform Network, which led opposition to the bill.

Upon hearing her husband’s call for help, Cynthia Halliday came flying upstairs. He was rushing toward the outdoor deck, gasping for air. He was having a heart attack. Halliday held him and dialed 911 with her cellphone. The dispatcher answered, but within seconds, she said, the call disconnected due to poor reception. Halliday screamed for help, loud enough for her next-door neighbor Larry Williams to hear and dial from his copper landline. This time, it got through.

Source: The South Pasadenan | By News

“There is no way the commission has the resources to verify throughout the entire state where there are verified alternative services,” said Regina Costa of The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based advocacy group.

California lawmakers are advancing a controversial proposal that could mark the beginning of the end for most traditional landline phone service in the state.  Assembly Bill 470, backed by AT&T, cleared the Assembly in June and is now under review by the state Senate Appropriations Committee. The legislation seeks to eliminate the company’s “carrier of last resort” obligation, which currently requires it to provide copper-wire landline service to anyone who requests it.

Source: Boiling Point | By LA Times

Sammy Roth talks with Matt Freedman, staff attorney at the Utility Reform Network, about what California lawmakers are doing to rein in soaring electricity costs, and why it’s crucial for the state’s climate goals.

Source: The Sacramento Bee | By Mark Toney and Kat Taylor

Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligations are legal requirements that ensure every household and business has access to basic telephone service, regardless of location remoteness, unprofitability or access challenges.

Source: CBS News Bay Area | By Sooji Nam

"It wants to be able to turn out the lights and walk away from serving areas that it thinks that are not as profitable as others," Regina Costa, the telecommunications policy director of The Utility Reform Network, told CBS News Bay Area. "In a major power outage that happens during a disaster like an earthquake or when the power's shut off during the fire, those lines continue to work. They do not need electricity from PG&E in order to keep functioning."

AT&T is pushing to get rid of its legacy copper landline services and instead replace them with advanced fiber optic networks. But not everyone is on board with getting rid of their landline. Utility watchdog groups say, however, the bill would impact about 1.5 million Californians who rely on copper services, especially when cell service is down.

Source: The Mercury News/Bay Area News Group | By Ethan Baron

“Right now we have 5% of Californians still using their copper lines,” said Southern California Assembly Member Tina McKinnor, the bill’s author. “Most of that is an older population. When we no longer have them with us, like my parents, we probably won’t be 5%.” “It most definitely is an end run around the PUC,” said Regina Costa, telecom policy director at The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based consumer advocacy group opposed to the bill. For customers in purportedly well-served areas who lose landlines and can’t secure an alternative, the Public Utilities Commission would have to confirm the absence of options. “There is no way that people will understand what’s going on,” Costa said, “and there’s no way that the commission has the resources to go out and verify throughout the entire state where there are verified alternative services.”

Assembly Bill 470 would allow the company, which provides the vast majority of the state’s landline service, to drop most of those customers, including nearly all of the hundreds of thousands in the Bay Area and millions around the state. It easily passed a floor vote in the Assembly in late June, and is now before the state Senate’s appropriations committee.

Source: Broadband Breakfast | By Jennifer Michel

Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, said AB 470 would allow providers to “pick and choose which neighborhoods they serve,” eliminating long-standing requirements for universal phone access.

Assembly Bill 470, which advanced in the state legislature Thursday after a contentious July 15 hearing, would allow providers like AT&T to withdraw from their Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligations in areas deemed to be “well-served” by multiple, competing service providers. At the hearing before California’s Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, proponents described AB 470 a long-overdue step to modernize California’s communications infrastructure. Critics, meanwhile, warned the bill could strand rural communities without a dependable fallback for emergency calls, repairs, or basic voice service.

Source: Communications Daily | By Gabriella Novello

"Without COLR obligations, telephone companies can pick and choose which neighborhoods they serve with copper, VoIP or fiber," said TURN Executive Director Mark Toney.

AT&T called on California lawmakers Tuesday to grant it and other carriers relief from carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations. Meanwhile, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) urged the committee to maintain its nearly 30-year-old rules.

Source: KFIAM | By iHeartRadio

However, digital equity advocates and emergency responders express concerns over the potential impact on public safety. Landlines are seen as crucial during emergencies, such as wildfires or earthquakes, because they carry their own electrical charge and remain operational during power outages. Regina Costa of The Utility Reform Network (TURN) emphasized that the bill is about ensuring reliable telecom service for every Californian, regardless of technology.

A new bill in California could allow AT&T to phase out landline services, affecting hundreds of thousands of households. Assembly Bill 470 proposes to relieve AT&T of its legal obligation as a carrier of last resort, which requires the company to provide landline services to anyone who requests them. The bill aims to transition from copper landlines to more modern communication technologies, such as fiber optics and voice-over internet protocol (VoIP). AT&T argues that the transition will modernize the state's telecommunications infrastructure and improve reliability. According to LAist, Susan Santana, president of AT&T California, stated, "We’re committed to working with state leaders and community members on policies that create a thoughtful transition to bring more reliable, modern communications to all Californians."

Source: LAist | By Nereida Moreno

“ The bill is not just about copper landlines,” said Regina Costa of The Utility Reform Network or TURN, an advocacy group that has helped organize residents around the landline issue. “It's about the mandate… to make sure that every single customer in California has reliable telecom service and it doesn't matter what the technology is.”

Hundreds of thousands of California households could lose their landline service under a new state bill that would allow AT&T to be relieved of its legal obligation to be a carrier of last resort. That requires the telecom giant to offer landlines to anyone who wants one. AT&T says the bill would ensure the company’s transition from “antiquated” copper landlines to a more modern network in phases over time. But digital equity advocates say the move would be detrimental for public safety – especially in the case of a wildfire or earthquake.

Source: San Diego Post | By Jacob Shelton

“There are thousands of Californians going through this,” said Regina Costa of the Utility Reform Network. “These women are the canaries in the coal mine.” Some people in their 80s or 90s don’t have someone to back them up or advocate for their rights. No phone service could be the difference between life and death.

In 2024, the L.A. City Council formed a task force with LAPD and the Bureau of Street Lighting. Since then, 82 arrests have been made, and over 2,000 pounds of stolen copper wire has been recovered. Still, repair costs have already surpassed $17 million, and outages continue. Consumer advocates say the problem is compounded by AT&T’s ongoing push to phase out landline services altogether. The company recently tried—and failed—to eliminate its obligation to provide basic phone service statewide. Critics say the company is dragging its feet on repairs to make landlines appear obsolete.