Decades ago, before cell phones buzzed and beeped in everyone's pockets, people relied on a network of copper wires to stay connected to loved ones. A landline phone’s chime was a familiar part of everyday life.
In some Appalachian Ohio homes, like Paul Feezel’s, those landlines are still ringing.
Feezel said the outdated tech is his only option. He lives in a valley, about a mile from the road on the outskirts of rural Carrollton. The beautiful hills he loves are also the obstacle to good cell service or satellite connection.
“Unfortunately, none of those are able to provide either consistent phone service and definitely not consistent or even available internet service,” he said, speaking over his landline.
In August, Feezel got a letter from Frontier – a phone provider owned by Verizon – saying his landline would be shut off in the near future. Similar letters have gone out to Verizon and AT&T customers across the state as the major phone providers prepare to phase out the technology.
The change is being met with concern in many rural, remote regions of Ohio, where cell service is spotty at best.
“It's different here,” said Chris Modranski, Carroll County commissioner. “I would hate for [providers] to make a decision based on where they live and not focus on the people who are actually in the terrain where it really affects every person.”
Moving away from a costly infrastructure
Around 270,000 Ohio households have traditional landline telephone connections to their local phone network, according to a report from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Verizon estimates less than 3% of their customers use the copper service nationwide.
“The copper network is, in some areas, 100 years old. It's an aging infrastructure. It is very costly to maintain,” said spokesperson Lauren Peterson.
Peterson said copper landlines are expensive to repair, due to a scarcity of copper. Plus, she said, they are vulnerable to severe weather events and theft. Copper line theft has increased in recent years as the value of the material roughly doubled in a year.
Earlier this year, the FCC voted to make it easier for companies, like Verizon, to retire the costly infrastructure.
The FCC cut back on paperwork and filings, and streamlined the approval process, arguing it could free up providers to invest resources in more modern technologies, like fiber.
“The FCC acts today to unleash new, high-speed infrastructure builds in communities all across the country,” the so-called modernization order reads. “We do so by cutting through the red tape that has both required providers to keep aging copper lines in place and effectively prevented them from investing in the modern infrastructure that Americans want and deserve.”
A lifeline for the rural and elderly
Hoomen Hedayati, a researcher with the Communications Workers of America union, said there will be drawbacks to the FCC’s regulatory changes. His group represents telecom workers nationally.
“It used to be a company's job to prove a reliable replacement existed before discontinuing service,” he said of the changes. “Now it's the customer's job to object if the reliable alternative doesn't exist.”
That burden shift worries Jenny Westfall with Buckeye Hills Regional Council, an organization that serves aging residents in southeast Ohio.
Many older community members are reaching out to the group with questions on how they will call 911, connect with doctors, or reach their grandchildren if their landline is decommissioned, Westfall said.
“It's a safety risk, it’s a health risk,” she said. “We're isolating an already isolated population. It’s an economic disadvantage. There’s just so much.”
Verizon spokesperson Peterson said the company is committed to doing location-by-location testing to ensure all residents have other options. If none are available, she says customers will remain on copper.
“If they are in the middle of nowhere and there's no fiber, there's no wireless, they're not going to be left behind,” she said.
Peterson says they’re also offering a technology that plugs into existing home phones – so Ohioans who lose their landlines can still make calls without needing to buy a cellphone.
AT&T spokesperson Kyle Loomis expressed a similar commitment in an email statement to the Ohio Newsroom.
“Our transition is a year-long process, and no customer will be left without access to voice or 911 service. We’re working with our customers to upgrade their copper-based service to newer, less expensive options like AT&T Phone – Advanced. As part of that upgrade, copper-based service will be discontinued in Ohio. We are committed to working with our customers during this transition," the statement reads.
An uncertain future
Verizon’s initial filing to discontinue its landlines has been paused, after residents filed public comments of concern. The FCC has flagged Verizon’s application for further review.
Shutting down landlines will be a long process that won’t begin until next year, Peterson said, pending FCC approval.
Some customers, like Feezel, have already received reassurances. A few weeks ago, his provider sent another letter, stating his landline won’t be impacted at this time.
It gives him some peace of mind, he said. Still, the Carroll County resident said he wants larger protections in place for himself and his rural neighbors.
“We're not the only ones…” he said. “I would hope that there would be greater consideration about making sure that all rural communities can keep up.”
