Let’s make our 2026 Giving Tuesday Appeal a Grand Success – Our Goal is $75K

“Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.”
— Kathy Calvin, former President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation

Dear honored members, retirees, active employees, and future members,

I am Una Kelly, your grateful Treasurer at the Association of BellTel Retirees.

In October 2017, I was nominated as a director of your Association. At the time, I had no clue how “giving back” would enhance my life. Today, I thank you for trusting me as I relish the most rewarding work of my lifetime.

You inspire me every time I speak with you, hear your stories, and humbly accept your kind words. I am in awe of your generous hearts. I am privileged to serve as your Treasurer. I match your support by being a monthly recurring donor, I give generously during our Giving Tuesday appeals, and I am an active participant in all efforts that advance our mission and strengthen our responsibility to you.

Know that the Association of BellTel Retirees is as committed to you as you are to us. This is your house, and your Board of Directors will never sit idle when difficult challenges arise. Your dedicated Directors and stellar staff work feverishly on what is important to you.

In our recent survey, you voiced that your most important retirement concern is the cost of healthcare. This year we kicked off a designated Health Care Committee comprised of members just like you who understand the challenges of rising premium costs.

In addition, about 30% of the members who participated in that survey identified pension risk transfer (PRT) as another top concern. In response, as of the mailing of this letter, we have launched a full-scale Call to Action campaign that requires your participation. Please check your email and our website for updates.

We also know of your worries surrounding the lack of any sort of Cost of Living Adjustment and losing concession services as companies retire copper lines. We hear you and are not hesitant to call out the CEOs, as your Chairman, Tommy Steed, did in a recent letter to AT&T. Tommy also sent a strong letter to the FCC adamantly objecting Verizon’s petition to drop its copper POTS phone service in 18 states. We will continue the fight to maintain your earned benefits. These initiatives are very important to your financial security and know that your Association spends your donations very carefully working on them.

As your Treasurer, I am compelled to share a few details about our current financial position. Your Board of Directors has worked painstakingly to reduce expenses, achieving a remarkable $60,000 reduction through August compared with the same period in 2025. Rest assured, we accomplished this without compromising our mission or our commitment to you.

During this same timeframe, your donations increased by nearly 10%. This increase was significantly strengthened by a generous planned giving donation and several qualified charitable distribution (QCD) donations from loyal members whose generosity continue to support the work of your Association. We are deeply grateful for these extraordinary gifts and for the many contributions, large and small, that sustain our mission.

As you do, we also manage our expenses extremely well, but they are increasing as costs continue to rise. We need your support now more than ever and we depend on your donations.

As always, thank you for your generosity, your trust, and your continued support. Every contribution helps ensure that the Association of BellTel Retirees remains a strong voice and a steadfast resource for our members.

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. We recommend you seek advice from your financial or legal advisor on planned giving.

Giving Tuesday falls on December 1, 2026. I promise to share the final results of our $75,000 fundraising goal with you.

Until then, I, your Board of Directors, and your Staff send our warmest wishes to you and your loved ones for a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. We are grateful for each and every one of you.

With sincere appreciation and in solidarity,

Una Kelly
Treasurer
Association of BellTel Retirees Inc.

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