These are the dates customers physically lose copper phone service.
Every row below comes from a Section 214 discontinuance application filed with the FCC. When the FCC grants the application, the carrier is authorised to stop providing the service on or after the date shown. That is the day the line goes dead.
This calendar covers 114 confirmed discontinuance applications across all 50 states, plus DC and Puerto Rico. Verified against FCC public notices as of September 2026.
Find your state, then count backwards. Sixty to ninety days is the working window to inventory your lines, order equipment, coordinate your monitoring company and get replacements tested. Send us a recent phone bill and we will tell you which of your lines are in scope.
Copper cutover calendar
Sorted by date. A single carrier often files separate applications for residential and business service, so a state can appear more than once.
| Cutover date | Carrier | States | Service | FCC docket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 2026 | AT&T (BellSouth) | AL, LA, MS | Residential | 26-201 |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Consolidated Communications | MN | Legacy voice | 26-232 |
| 1 Oct 2026 | CenturyLink / Level 3 | Nationwide (grandfather) | Legacy voice | 26-220 |
| 5 Oct 2026 | Nebraska Technology & Telecom | CO, IA, MN, NE, SD | All voice and data | 26-231 |
| 16 Oct 2026 | AT&T | AR, FL, GA, IN, KS, LA, MO, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, WI | Residential and business | 26-192 |
| 23 Oct 2026 | Verizon + Frontier | AZ, DE, NJ, NM, OH, RI, SC, UT, VA | Residential and business | 26-227 |
| 23 Oct 2026 | Verizon + Frontier | AZ, DE, NJ, NM, OH, RI, SC, UT, VA | Business copper only | 26-228 |
| 3 Nov 2026 | Consolidated Communications (7 entities) | IL, PA, NY, TX, MN, VT, ME, NH | Legacy voice | 26-229 et al. |
| 3 Nov 2026 | Fidium | MN | Legacy voice | 26-226 |
| 15 Nov 2026 | AT&T (BellSouth + SWBT) | AL, AR, GA, LA, SC, TN | Business | 26-200 |
| 15 Nov 2026 | AT&T (multi-state ILEC) | AL, AR, FL, GA, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MO, MS, NC, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, WI | Residential and business | 25-335 |
| 16 Nov 2026 | Frontier / Citizens (17 entities) | FL, IN, MN, NC, NE, NV, TX, WI | Residential and business | 26-170 |
| 16 Nov 2026 | Frontier / Citizens (17 entities) | FL, IN, MN, NC, NE, NV, TX, WI | Business copper only | 26-171 |
| 29 Jan 2027 | AT&T | FL, GA, IN, KS, LA, MO, NC, OK, TX, WI | Residential and business | 26-224 |
| 1 Jun 2027 | AT&T California | CA (360 wire centers) | Residential and business | 26-120 / 26-121 |
Source: FCC Section 214 discontinuance applications and accompanying public notices, docket numbers as listed. Compiled September 2026. Dates are as printed by the FCC.
The two dates that matter
Auto-grant date. An application is deemed granted automatically if the FCC does not act, normally on the 31st day after the public notice. That is the signal the cutover will happen.
Discontinuance date. The date on or after which the carrier may stop providing service. That is the one to plan around.
Under FCC Order 26-19, adopted March 2026, the 31-day automatic grant now applies uniformly going forward. Older filings used 25 or 60 days, so never assume the interval — use the date the FCC printed.
What this calendar cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether your specific building is affected, and neither can anyone else.
The applications define the affected area as the carrier’s footprint within the listed states, conditional on a replacement service being available at that location. The largest filing of 2026 attaches its state exhibits as map images. There is not a single wire centre identifier in it.
In practice that means the only reliable way to know whether a given line is in scope is to look at the account and the address. That is what the audit does.
The public notice you used to get is gone
Copper retirement used to generate its own federal filing under Section 51.332. That series ended on 4 March 2025, and FCC Order 26-19 made the waiver permanent. Carriers now publish retirement notices on their own websites only.
There is no longer any federal docket in which a copper retirement appears as such. Watching the FCC will not catch what is coming to your building. The letter to your billing address will be the first thing you see.
Contested filings
A contested docket can slip, so verify before planning around one.
Verizon and Frontier, nine states, docket 26-227 drew 503 filings including seven complaints, two motions to dismiss, two oppositions and an appeal. Notably, the companion business-copper filing on docket 26-228 drew only four.
AT&T California, dockets 26-120 and 26-121, covering 360 wire centres, drew nearly 800 filings across the pair, with oppositions and applications for review outstanding. California’s Public Utilities Commission is separately litigating the preemption question.
What to do with a date on this page
1. Inventory the lines. Most organisations cannot say what each copper line on the bill actually feeds. A meaningful share are dead or duplicated.
2. Separate code-bound from everything else. Elevator phones, fire alarm panels and alarm dialers need a compliant replacement. Fax lines and card terminals do not.
3. Sequence by risk. Lines in states with a near date, and lines tied to an inspection deadline, go first.
4. Start before the letter. Ninety days is enough to execute a plan. It is not enough to build one.
Start with the audit
Send a recent phone bill. We will tell you what every line feeds, which ones sit in a state with a cutover date on this page, which are code-bound, and what replacement costs.