RE: WC Docket No. 26-227 & Docket No. 26-252

Dear Chairman Carr, Commissioners Gomez, and Trusty:

On behalf of tens of thousands of telecommunications retirees and active employees across the country, I write to express our adamant opposition to Verizon’s request to drop its copper POTS phone service in 18 U.S. States.

Verizon’s petition to the FCC claimed that “copper infrastructure is too slow to meet modern needs, many decades old, costly to maintain” and that “these services have few customers, and discontinuing the services will serve as an important step toward meeting both Verizon’s and the commission’s goal of providing the next-generation technologies that American consumers want.”

This ignores the needs of millions of older and vulnerable Americans, particularly those in rural areas, who rely on landlines in areas where cell service is inconsistent, potentially leaving millions of our fellow Americans entirely dependent on spotty or nonexistent cell service and at the mercy of price-gouging bottom dweller-providers. This will negatively impact Americans in the following states and territories: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) pointed out serious concerns in his own letter of opposition to the FCC, noting that many alternatives are considerably less reliable during emergencies. Many older adults or those on fixed income may struggle to replace their medical alert or home alarm units linked to the copper system. Most importantly, “an [replacement] option that a carrier can point to on paper but that cannot function at a given address raises serious questions about whether it is a reasonable substitute for the service being withdrawn.”

Our organization, the Association of BellTel Retirees Inc., believes that this petition is a cloaked attempt for the company to walk away from and eliminate the jobs of tens of thousands of union technicians that maintain the system and its critical infrastructure.

Let me remind you that the build-out and maintenance of a connected phone and communications system, from coast to coast was and remains a national security imperative. Land line communications provided and still provides critical connectivity for all. Those communities, homes or businesses that lack access, are put at a severe disadvantage.

Having worked for Ma Bell as a lineman and technical associate for over three decades, I can tell you that landline service, while less ubiquitous than it used to be, remains a critical lifeline to people across the United States.

Across our nation, where the frequency of major storms has risen to an alarming degree, cell towers are highly vulnerable to electrical outage or other conditions, be those natural or man-made.

Copper-wire, fiber and other connected-landline, remain a durable, 100-percent reliable solution, especially during emergency situations. Just as the company ratepayers funded the investment of its wireless network, perhaps the FCC should advise the company that Fiber To The Premise (FTTP) would be a suitable option for all Americans.

If a community or county loses power in a storm or natural disaster such as wildfire, and citizens can’t charge their cell phone, they are left totally alone in isolation. With no electricity, and no cell signal, there is no 911 operator and emergency responders to come to their aid, nor is there a way to connect with loved ones during a crisis.

Millions of Americans regard landlines as vital lifelines, especially in areas regularly exposed to natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes, and floods. Many get zero cell service even on the best of days, leaving elderly citizens reliant on their trusted landlines during medical emergencies. Imagine the need to perform CPR on someone having cardiac arrest in an area with poor or non-existent cell service: Do you think you’d have time to drive miles towards the nearest cell tower to get a signal, just to call 911?

Axing landline service is like building a passenger ship with no lifeboats and sending 1,000 people out to sea. What happens if the ship sinks?

Another critical component rarely evaluated is that it is the ratepayers of the land line system funded the research, development and build-out of the satellites, cell towers and networks that both Verizon and AT&T now recognize as their cash cow. You cannot now abandon the people, communities, and ratepayers that funded and enabled Verizon to have a business enterprise valued at $138 billion in revenues and for AT&T $146 billion in 2025.

A public service corporation like Verizon and AT&T should be serving the public, not just shareholders. This is a naked ploy to increase profits by forcing customers into expensive bundle packages, an entirely unappealing prospect for elderly citizens, poor or working-class families who don’t need or want more bells and whistles. It would also result in major job losses, since telecom employees – most of whom are union represented – maintain the landline infrastructure. This is an attempt by the company to claim it no longer needs this loyal workforce.

Please vote to maintain basic, connected land line phone services. Our rate payers funded the build out of this system and access to it should be a public good for all, not another price-gouging profit machine for Verizon.

Sincerely,

Thomas Steed
Chairman
Association of BellTel Retirees Inc.
tmsteed@hotmail.com
914-213-5909

CC:

Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chair, U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Telecommunications & Media
Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Telecommunications & Media
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), Chair, House Subcommittee on Telecommunications & Media
U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), Ranking Member, House Subcommittee on Telecommunications & Media

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.