Cellular giant AT&T plans to discontinue landline service in nearly every state they cover by the end of the decade, including Illinois.
The plan means pivoting away from traditional copper wire infrastructure and moving entirely to fiber, offering cellular service and voice-over-internet protocol, or VOIP, as alternatives. A representative of the company told news outlets that the copper system is aging and expensive to maintain.
Bryan McDaniel is the director of government affairs for the consumer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board. He says AT&T asked Illinois lawmakers for years to open the door to phasing out landlines, finally succeeding in 2017. It will still require a final signoff from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
“Once that happens, consumers who are affected or still on an AT&T landline will receive a letter from AT&T,” said McDaniel. “It’s in law that says, 'your landline will be ended; AT&T is ending your landline service.' You only have to have one other option, and if you don’t have one other option, you can complain to the Illinois Commerce Commission.”
But what do consumers lose when they lose a landline?
McDaniel says landlines are typically reliable, reasonably priced and the safest way to make a 911 call in a household emergency.
“We know that landlines are the safest because if you can’t speak, 911 knows where you are, right?” said McDaniel.
He says some states have invested in 911 technology to more accurately place a cell phone call, but the level of investment varies.
Other advocates point to vulnerable populations that benefit from landline service, like elderly, impoverished and rural Americans.
There’s also the matter of cellular network outages. For example, in February of this year, an outage knocked out service for thousands of AT&T customers across the country for several hours.
“We think it’s a little premature to be – I mean obviously the number of landlines has decreased, no doubt about it,” said McDaniel. “But at the same time, you know that the people that still have landlines tend to be seniors. Not always; a lot of times it’s people with families, with young children.”
McDaniel says landlines are still a convenient, affordable option for a significant amount of customers. He says there’s still close to one million active landlines in Illinois.
A July 2024 study by research firm Chamber of Commerce estimates some three million adults in Illinois still use a landline. They also point out the number of landline-only households nationwide plummeted since 2002, from 39.8% to just 1.3%.
McDaniel says the speed of this transition from copper makes consumer advocacy groups like his nervous.
“Really, we need to slow down and make sure no one’s losing connections,” he said. “One of AT&T’s big talking points is: ‘nobody’s going to be hung up on.’ Well, let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.”
An AT&T spokesperson told USA Today that they would work with customers throughout the transition to make sure none of them lose "voice or 911 service."
