Dear Mr. Stankey,

On behalf of more than 134,000 former Bell System retirees, including tens of thousands who dedicated their careers to making AT&T great, I come to you with gravest concerns about the loss of guaranteed land line concession service. I also come to you as a shareholder, and Chairman of a group with an estimated 74% of our members report owning AT&T and Verizon shares—your own loyal retirees!

Year after year and decade after decade, following divestiture, AT&T guaranteed its workforce in many pre-retirement HR conferences and in written notices, that their earned benefits package would remain in-place and was not to be eroded. Among these guaranteed benefits are Telephone Concession Service, which must not be depreciated or discontinued until after the death of the employee.

Our retiree members residing in the State of California, have been notified that their service is being changed effective no later than June 1, 2027 and the only option available to them is AT&T Phone – Advanced (AP-A), which deploys the AT&T cellular network and/or a broadband connection to provide home telephone service instead of the traditional wired phone lines.

First, removing concession land line service and forcing retirees to solely rely instead on an AP-A device with a backup battery providing only 24 hours of power is not what we could consider “the best connectivity in the industry.” This is actually putting many retirees in danger if they are faced with a blackout.

While AT&T claims this is a faster and more reliable system, it feels more like a trojan horse, deposited onto the doorsteps of our retirees, especially those in rural areas. In these secluded parts of the country, a power outage would mean a total loss of communication with the outside world if not for landline service.

Second, the so-called discount cost of service for AP-A to retirees is $45/month. That is the same price as every other customer in the California market. This is the equivalent of canceling or revoking retirees earned and guaranteed concession service. The current cost of concession service for a retiree was approximately $2/month in state and federal tax only, resulting in a quite significant upcharge, and yes, a breach of the employer agreement and a 100 year old tradition.

In a May 2026 notification, AT&T told retirees, “thank you for your dedication as a retiree who helped shape AT&T into the nation’s best advanced connectivity company. You gave your best years of service to the company, and that’s why we are always working to bring you the best connectivity in the industry.”

I implore you to re-consider the negative health, safety and fiscal impact on retirees before shutting down landline service in this state, or other locations. AT&T retirees deserve better and we expect to hold you to a higher standard of care for the decades of loyalty and commitment they provided the company.

Sincerely,

Thomas Steed
Chairman
Association of BellTel Retirees Inc.

To my fellow BellTel Retirees and Active Employees,

In 1996, I was among the NYNEX retirees who recognized that commitments made in our working years were not being kept. As my portion of the employment agreement, I gave 30 years to the company, working alongside an amazing group of 3,000 hardworking and wonderful colleagues, in return for a guarantee that the pension and retirement benefits offered by Ma Bell would last for MY LIFETIME!

About five years after I retired as Division Manager of the Buildings Engineering and Real Estate Department, I started to realize the company I devoted a career to was not living up to those commitments. It’s exactly why seven of us co-founded the Association of BellTel Retirees in 1996, because if we don’t stand up for ourselves, who will?

Over the past 30 years, it has been a great honor to watch this organization grow, succeed and continue to bring about results. I salute countless volunteers and members for their role to protect our collective earned retirement benefits. But our job, and the mission, is far from over!

Some might recall that in 2010, Verizon sold 7 million access lines to Frontier Communications, transferring 11,000 employees and many retirees within that transaction. Fast forward to January 2026, as the company just reacquired all of Frontier Communications, just weeks after laying off 13,000 from Verizon.

As company leaders continue to move people and corporate divisions around like pieces on a chess board, retirees and employees need to be as vocal and engaged as ever.

We also need to continually monitor the state of our earned health and pension benefits. The issue of your pensions being converted into group annuities is serious business, as is the trend of private equity buying up and offshoring pension assets. Not to mention the collapse of a large insurance and annuity provider, reported in recent weeks.

The Association of BellTel Retirees continues fighting for us. Its leaders have testified to Congress, initiated litigations rising to the U.S. Supreme Court, and authored victorious shareholder proxy campaigns. BellTel remains a consistent and vocal advocate for retirees in the news and as a source of insight for us all.

As we mark 30 years of results, I say with certainty that retirees being of one voice has made us a more formidable force. Let’s keep that going and get behind BellTel’s efforts in 2026! I ask my fellow retirees and active employees to step up and serve as a volunteer leader and make a generous donation today. Visit our donation page on our website or use enclosed donation card to contribute.

In addition to your typical generous donation, consider your Association during your current and future planned giving. This includes estate planning, your annual required minimum distribution (RMD) to a qualified charitable distribution (QCD), and adding the Association as a beneficiary.

Each contribution supports BellTel’s mission to serve as an information pipeline to retirees and current employees through the quarterly newsletters, annual member meetings, our YouTube channel, podcasts, and social media.

We need everyone to play a role. Become a dynamic part of a winning team focused on protecting you!

Many Thanks,

Bob Rehm
Co-Founder & Board Member Emeritus
Association of BellTel Retirees Inc.