AT&T's copper retirement plan plows ahead

US telephone companies of varied shapes and sizes will be retiring portions of their copper networks in the years to come. However, none are currently attacking copper phase-outs like AT&T. AT&T's initiative is simply much more massive in size and scope. As announced in 2024, AT&T is on a mission to shut down power-hungry and broadly inefficient copper-based services across the bulk of its US footprint by the end of 2029. AT&T is making progress. The Federal Communications Commission recently approved AT&T to discontinue legacy services in about 10% of its footprint. That approval, considered a significant milestone for AT&T, is set to take effect in June 2026. "That's a pretty big, scaled filing across 500 of our wire centers," senior EVP Susan Johnson said.