Your Landline is Not Being Shut Down — Yet! But Be Careful…

Riku Arikiri
3 min readSep 8, 2024

Understanding the Shift in Landline Services

Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash

A new wave of landline disconnections is on the rise in the U.S, and you might be next if you’re not careful. Major telecommunications providers like AT&T, Frontier, and Verizon are gradually shutting down their copper-based Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) infrastructure, citing high maintenance costs.

This trend is aligned with the FCC Order 1972-A, which outlines how most providers are moving away from POTS lines in favor of fiber-optic services.

But why is this happening? The reasons may seem complex, but it boils down to profitability. Maintaining the old infrastructure isn’t lucrative for the providers.

They want customers to bundle multiple services, allowing them to charge more and increase their revenue. It’s a strategy designed to make you spend more money.

Of course, the newer technology replacing the old one has its merits. But it comes at a significant drawback when it comes to integrating analog systems, such as credit card machines, alarm systems, fax, elevator phones & rotary phones to name a few.

What’s the Real Cost of Keeping Your Landline?

The typical landline service costs around $100 or more per month unless you qualify for…

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Riku Arikiri

It’s never black or white. Sometimes there’s a bit of spicy red in there as well.