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The 2026 to 2029 POTS Replacement Timeline: AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Copper Retirement Deadlines
Businesses across the United States are being forced to replace legacy analog phone lines as major carriers continue retiring copper networks. For managed service providers (MSPs) and POTS replacement providers, understanding when AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen plan to discontinue legacy services is critical for planning deployments before customer notices arrive.
This guide brings together the latest publicly announced POTS replacement deadlines, copper retirement milestones, and FCC regulatory updates in one place. We update this timeline quarterly as new carrier filings are announced.
Why the POTS replacement timeline is accelerating
On March 26, 2026, the FCC adopted the Network and Services Modernization Order (FCC-26-19A1), significantly reducing the time required for carriers to retire legacy copper services.
The order introduced several important changes.
Faster Section 214 approvals. The automatic grant period for discontinuance applications is now 31 days for all carriers, replacing the previous 60-day review period for dominant carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen.
Grandfathering without filing. Carriers can now grandfather legacy voice and lower-speed broadband services through customer notification alone. A Section 214 filing is only required for complete service retirement.
Federal preemption. State and local governments can no longer delay or block federally approved service discontinuance. They may participate in the FCC review process but cannot independently prevent retirements.
90-day 911 coordination. Carriers must coordinate with local 911 authorities at least 90 days before discontinuing services that affect emergency calling.
The result is simple. Carriers can retire copper infrastructure much faster than before, meaning businesses have less time to replace traditional POTS lines.
AT&T POTS replacement timeline
Key milestones
June 2026
AT&T began permanently decommissioning copper infrastructure across approximately 500 wire centers nationwide, representing roughly 10 percent of its network footprint.
November 15, 2026
AT&T requested authority to discontinue legacy TDM-based POTS services affecting approximately 90,000 customers across portions of wire centers in 18 states.
June 1, 2027
AT&T plans to begin retiring additional copper telephone services throughout California as part of its $19 billion statewide network modernization initiative.
2029
AT&T's public objective is to be substantially out of copper by 2029.
What this means for MSPs
AT&T has the largest and most aggressive copper retirement strategy in the United States. If you provide POTS replacement services in AT&T territory, customer migration projects are already underway and will continue accelerating through 2029.
Verizon POTS replacement timeline
Key milestones
2024 to 2025
Verizon launched its first copper retirement projects across New York and Massachusetts, including Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, Port Jefferson, Selden, Shoreham, South Boston, Fitchburg, and Quincy.
2026
Retirement activity expanded into New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and additional New York and Massachusetts markets.
2026 to 2027
Verizon's long-term objective is to migrate viable customers to fiber, impacting more than five million legacy telephone lines.
What this means for MSPs
Organizations throughout the Northeast should expect continued retirement notices as Verizon accelerates its migration strategy. Once customers receive a 90-day notification, there are very few remaining regulatory barriers before legacy POTS service is discontinued.
Lumen POTS replacement timeline
Key milestones
May 2025
Lumen stopped accepting new POTS orders and moves, adds, or changes across its 14-state incumbent local exchange carrier footprint.
Ongoing
Lumen continues issuing approximately 180-day customer notices on a site-by-site basis rather than through large regional retirement projects.
Apollo acquisition
Lumen announced the sale of its incumbent local exchange carrier business in 20 states to Apollo Global Management. Ownership changes may influence future retirement schedules in those markets.
What this means for MSPs
Unlike AT&T or Verizon, Lumen is retiring copper on a location-by-location basis. Instead of large statewide deadlines, customers receive individual notices throughout the year, making ongoing monitoring essential.
What the copper retirement timeline means for POTS replacement providers
The accelerating retirement of copper infrastructure creates three important considerations for MSPs.
Demand will continue increasing
Each quarter, more businesses receive notices requiring them to replace legacy analog phone lines. Providers that can deploy quickly will be best positioned to capture this growing demand.
Multi-carrier connectivity becomes increasingly important
Reliable cellular connectivity is the foundation of every POTS replacement deployment. Multi-carrier SIMs provide redundancy and improve reliability if wireless coverage changes over time.
Scalability affects profitability
As deployment volumes grow, connectivity costs become increasingly important. MSPs using centralized, multi-carrier connectivity platforms can provision devices faster, simplify operations, and avoid the overhead of managing multiple carrier accounts.
Check coverage before your next POTS replacement deployment
Planning an upcoming POTS replacement project?
Use Simbase to check multi-carrier cellular coverage, provision SIMs from one platform, and manage deployments at scale.
