The Sunset of Copper POTS (“Plain Old Telephone Service”) Lines
FCC order 19-72A1 (issued August 2, 2019) has officially granted telecommunications carriers permission to abandon outdated, degrading copper POTs lines.
Per the order, carriers are not only released from maintaining this critical part of the communications infrastructure - they also are no longer required to make this important element of telecommunications service available to consumers.
Impact of the Order
The change has already begun. As a result of the Order, carriers are increasing pricing for existing POTS lines by 75% - 150% in a concerted effort to force customer migration off of the outdated, and literally, crumbling, POTS line infrastructure.
Some customers are receiving communication from their carriers informing them that their current POTS line services will no longer be available after “X” date.
In any case, the FCC Order mandates that customers and resellers of POTS line services must transition to an alternative service on or before August 2, 2022.
The Solution: Alternatives to Traditional POTS Line Services
Solutions such as VoIP can somewhat approximate POTS line functionality. However, for specialty services – historically supported by POTS lines – such as burglar and fire alarm lines, elevator lines, analog modem data, and (reliable) faxing, VoIP has historically been a “best effort”, and is often challenging to implement due to the unique codecs and transmission modes needed to effectively support such services.
A fully viable and highly effective alternative to POTS line service delivery is DataRemote’s POTS-In-A-Box® (PIAB) solution. In partnership with MIX Networks Unified Communications platform, the PIAB devices not only replicate POTS line functionality for Voice and Specialty Lines – they further enhance it by providing additional benefits such as:
● Use Customer Ethernet or Dual SIM Card slots for LTE coverage on ATT/Verizon networks
● Built-In Router Functionality
● Specialty codecs/signaling for Burglar and Fire Alarm Transmission
● Analog Modem Data Support
● Highly Reliable Fax-Over-IP delivery
● Extended Battery Life
● Fully Functioning Hosted PBX
9 replies (most recent on top)
One of My retirement benefits was a free telephone line for life. If my POTS line goes away, is T going to give me a free telephone line on their fiber service?
They have to have an alternative that works with e-911 service with ani and Ali info sent to the psap. So if there is no voip service they will replace with one of the new switch replacements that are the size of a lighspan shelf.
Article saying some of the copper will stick around until the end of the decade.
https://www.fiercetelecom.com/broadband/analysts-think-copper-likely-linger-us-despite-fiber-frenzy
*"AT&T’s copper footprint currently covers around 60 million locations and while the operator is looking to cut that figure to 30 million by 2025, that would still leave it with 30 million locations to go."
It doesn't sound to me like on Aug 2nd, someone flips a switch and all the copper magically pfft disappears.
There are still some users paying monthly phone lease of $10 . And $20 for red phones!
About time….
Sure hope that I don't lose my $1.00 concession price.
POTS should remain where there are no other options. it's just time to get into current technology, and give up the old.
Its the better new world order all hale klaus schwab.
What’s the solution for areas that have no broadband option and no cell service?