Board push to protect County residents from AT&T proposal to yank landlines

SAN JOSE – Advocating on behalf of County residents, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal from County Supervisors Joe Simitian and Cindy Chavez to engage in the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) proceeding for AT&T’s application to withdraw from being the Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) in California.  County Administration and County Counsel will also report back to the Board of Supervisors with additional options to address this issue, including potential legal recourse, legislative, and regulatory advocacy.

The Board’s action is in response to AT&T’s application to the CPUC to relieve itself of its obligations as a COLR. Being a COLR is intended to ensure that everyone in California has access to safe, reliable, and affordable telephone service—meaning landline or plain old telephone service (POTS).

“There are communities across our county where a landline is the only reliable form of communication,” said Simitian. “This voice service is crucial for folks who live in areas where mobile phone and internet service is non-existent or spotty.”

Should the CPUC approve AT&T’s application, AT&T would no longer be required to provide landline telephone service. If another carrier does not volunteer to become the next COLR, affected County residents could have no other options. 

“The ‘Carrier of Last Resort’ legal obligation has served our community and the entire State of California for decades,” said Chavez. “It ensures residents, businesses, and government are able to conduct essential communications during emergency situations. It can literally be a lifeline. I wholeheartedly support preserving the ‘Carrier of Last Resort’ legal obligation.”

“The reality of the situation,” said Simitian, “is that in many cases wireless is an imperfect replacement for physical landlines. In communities throughout the county wireless communication is spotty at best, and susceptible to downtime. Copper landlines do not suffer from such issues.”

“County staff will be exploring all options, including but not limited to, weighing in at the final CPUC public forum on March 19 and engaging as a formal party to the proceeding to help preserve and keep open these crucial lines of communication,” said Simitian. 

At Simitian’s prompting, Santa Clara County is already engaged in another CPUC proceeding; advocating for the CPUC to ensure compliance with its own rule that wireless carriers have, at minimum, 72-hour battery backup for communication equipment located in Tier 2 and Tier 3 High Fire Threat Districts—to ensure maintenance of service during a disaster or power outage.