AT&T has sued California because it wants to bin copper phone lines while promising shiny modern networks instead.
According to Reuters, the US wireless carrier filed suit on Wednesday against California officials, asking a court to say it no longer has to offer traditional copper wire phone service to new customers.
AT&T said California makes it spend $1bn a year maintaining a century-old telephone network that hardly anyone uses. The company said the network now serves just three per cent of households in its California territory.
The suit names the California Public Utilities Commission and the state attorney general. AT&T said it would invest $19bn in California as it tries to connect more than four million extra households and businesses across the state by 2030.
The company said IP-based networks are more reliable and efficient. AT&T asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to drop traditional phone service in parts of California where it says faster and more reliable services are available.
It filed another petition asking the FCC to declare that California rules requiring it to provide, repair, and sell traditional phone service are preempted by federal standards.
AT&T said the old copper network should be phased out where the FCC has already authorised the shift, rather than being kept alive like a telecoms museum exhibit.
The company claims moving from copper would save about 300 megawatt-hours a year by 2030. It said that would be equal to cutting emissions from 17 million gallons of petrol.
AT&T said California has already suffered about 2,000 outages due to copper theft this year, while replacement parts are becoming harder to find.
In its lawsuit, AT&T said the federal government and nearly all states where it once offered copper-wire service “have now eliminated outdated regulatory obstacles”.
That, it said, lets AT&T power down its old network and put more cash into modern communications technologies.
