land lines

RURAL RESIDENTS OPPOSE AT&T PROPOSAL TO PULL PLUG ON LAND LINES, SAY ACTION COULD COST LIVES: HEARING MARCH 19

By Miriam Raftery

Image: CC via Bing

February 8, 2024 (San Diego’s East County) – AT&T has filed an application asking the California Public Utilities Commission to end AT&T’s obligation to serve as a carrier of last resort (COLR) and cease maintaining land line telephone service. A map indicates this would include the entire San Diego region. If the CPUC approves the request,  land line service could end as early as six months later.

There are no in-person hearings in San Diego County, but you can voice your opinion in a virtual hearing March 19 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. or post online comments here.  

"If approved by the CPUC, over 580,000 affected AT&T customers would be left with fewer options in terms of choice, quality, and affordability," warns the Rural County Representatives of California. "Alternative services, such as VoIP and wireless, have no obligation to serve a customer or to provide equivalent services to AT&T landline customers, including no obligation to provide reliable access to 911 or Lifeline program discounts."

The proposal has drawn strong opposition from rural residents in East County and elsewhere in California, as well as consumer advocates who warn that ending land lines would leave many in rural or remote locations with no reliable phone service at all, since Internet VOIP phone service is not widely available in many places and some areas also lack cell phone connectivity. Even for those with cell service, land lines have proven life-saving options when cell towers have burned down during wildfires in places such as rural Potrero.


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BILL TO DROP LAND LINES PHONES PASSES COMMITTTTEE AFTER HEATED DEBATE

 

By Miriam Raftery

April 20, 2016 (Sacramento) – Despite intense opposition from more than 100 Californians at a grueling 3-hour hearing on April 13th, the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee approved Assembly Bill 2395 by a 10 to 3 vote.  View hearing video on CalChannel.  (Click on AB 2395 to hear testimony).  The measure would allow elimination of land line telephones in many parts of California.


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AT&T SEEKS TO ELIMINATE LAND LINE PHONES IN CALIFORNIA

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

April 12, 2016 (Sacramento) – Tomorrow, April 13th at 1 p.m.,  the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce will hear AB 2395, a measure that aims to eliminate hard-wired land line phones in California communities where cabled fiber optic connections are not available or are too expensive to install, such as rural, mountain and desert regions.  Customers would have no choice but to switch to wireless cell phone service, if the measure being pushed by AT&T is enacted.

In emergencies, 911 callers’ locations cannot easily be verified, unlike calls from land line which can be pinpointed instantly. In case of fire, medical emergency, or a serious crime in progress, prompt 911 responses are critical.  Moreover, during power outages, cell phones run out once batteries are dead and there is no way to recharge batteries in an outage, whereas old-fashioned land lines (though not cable phones) continue to work even when the electricity is off.

"In addition, some of us living near the U.S./Mexico border do not have cell service due to rugged terrain and agreements with Mexico not to have cell towers too close to the border,” says Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Community Planning Group.  So eliminating land lines would leave border residents in the most remote areas of  San Diego County with no phone service at all.


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TELEPHONE LANDLINES MAY SOON BECOME HISTORY

 

Internet-based phones worry rural communities due to spotty reception, posing threats to safety and universal coverage

By Sharon Penny

April 4, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) --Many citizens are not aware that AT&T and Verizon, among other telecom giants, are lobbying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and individual states to make telephone landlines go the way of the buggy whip. Soon, everyone in the U.S. may only have options for internet-based telephone service and cell service.

At the Boulevard Planning Group meeting held on April 3, local resident Kevin Keane, an IT and Telecommunications professional, discussed the issue with local residents, who were unaware these plans are in the works. 


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CORRECTED AGENDA FOR BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP APRIL3: LOSS OF LAND LINE PHONES CONCERNS RURAL RESIDENTS

 

AT&T  and FCC plan to eliminate landline phone service to be discussed, along with major energy projects and more

April 3, 2014 (Boulevard) -- An incorrect agenda was inadvertently sent to our media outlet for tonight’s Boulevard Planning Group.  The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room on 39919 Ribbonwood Road in Boulevard. 

The agenda will include possible actions regarding FCC and AT&T plans to eliminate landline phone service nationwide. ECM recently reported on grave problems experienced by some rural residents who switched from landlines to cellular, in one case resulting in a barn burning down because the resident could not reach 911.

Other agenda items include the following:


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.