Even in the heart of Los Angeles, they still rely on old-fashioned landlines and don’t want to lose them

Old copper landlines are going the way of so many other aging pieces of technology as smartphones have become the way many people surf the web, pay bills, watch movies and keep up with friends and family. But some residents of L.A. and California—particularly those who live in fire-prone areas—are determined to hold on to their traditional phones. As telecommunications giant AT&T accelerates its push to retire landline service to about 184,000 households and 15,000 businesses across the state, hundreds of Californians have voiced alarm in public comments. Many who rely on copper-wire landlines live in remote rural areas, but some also live in the hills and canyons of major metro areas like Los Angeles, where cell and internet service is patchy and the risk of natural disasters is high. California law requires AT&T, the largest carrier of last resort in the state, to offer basic telephone service to anyone who asks for it in certain areas. But AT&T, which made $23.4 billion in profit last year, is pushing to discontinue its traditional landline service on or after June 1 next year. For AT&T, copper landlines have become obsolete technology, much like Kodak film or Blockbuster VHS tapes. The company says only 3% of households it serves in California use its copper system, which costs $1 billion a year to maintain. Discontinuing landlines, AT&T argues, would allow it to provide more households with advanced fiber and wireless technology. The state has pushed back for years against AT&T’s attempts to cut copper landlines. But the battle has intensified in recent months after the Federal Communications Commission issued a March order that offered telecommunications companies a path to appeal state law, “cutting through the red tape that has both required providers to keep aging copper lines in place and effectively prevented them from investing in the modern infrastructure that Americans want and deserve.”