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By Ruth Dusseault. Bay City News.
AT&T's recent moves to phase out traditional landlines have raised concerns among some Bay Area elected leaders hoping to preserve what is seen as a vital service in isolated coastal and mountainous regions.
In remote regions where cell service is spotty, landlines can be a lifeline in a crisis, according to San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller. At Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting, he told the company to share specific details.
“How many customers are you indicating right now?” he said. “Over what time frame will this happen and how many of them do you think will have reliable alternative services at that time? And what information do you have about the unreliability of the network on the coast, because AT&T is also a cellular provider?”
Daren Chan, the AT&T representative present at the meeting, agreed to find experts who will provide testimony and produce documents. The material will be used in a hearing to study actions the county could take to address emergency preparedness in unincorporated areas, such as the coast.
That public hearing in San Mateo is scheduled for March 12 at 1:00 p.m.
Mueller’s concern stems from the fact that many people in San Mateo live in remote coastal areas that are hit hard by storms. In the 2020 CZU fire, landlines allowed those people to receive reverse 911 calls from their county’s emergency management departments. She wants landlines to remain available for those residents during a dangerous event, such as a flood or fire, when cell service goes out.
In March 2023, AT&T California applied to the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, to be relieved of its statutory designation as a “carrier of last resort” in specific areas. The designation, a cornerstone of utility regulation, requires a carrier to serve all customers within its territory, including expanding facilities when necessary to provide service. AT&T California has held that designation since 1996. It is the only carrier in the state that has landlines.
If its CPUC application is approved, the company can run cables throughout most of its service area.
Letters began arriving to San Mateo residents in January. The company told people that it may no longer provide landline service if their application is approved. A map linked to the application on the CPUC website shows the affected areas, which include San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County, and indeed much of the Bay Area.
An email Thursday from an AT&T spokesperson said there has been a dramatic and continuing decline in the number of customers subscribing to its traditional wireline voice service over the past two decades, and that Californians have many options available to them, including voice service over fiber or wireless.
“In California, 99.7 percent of consumers within our service territory have at least three alternative facilities-based voice service options,” AT&T said. “For customers who do not have alternatives available, we will continue to provide service until an alternative is available.”
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, Senate Bill 156 (2021) provided more than $6 billion to expand broadband infrastructure in underserved communities. Even with funding, internet availability can differ greatly among neighbors due to individual financial constraints, the elevation of a home, signaling obstacles, accessibility for work trucks, and the accuracy of previous attempts to estimate access to an area.
A CPUC fact sheet provided with AT&T’s application states: “An area without a provider of last resort could mean that there would be no landline telephone company serving that area and potentially no landline telephone access for customers in that area.” Other elected officials taking a position against AT&T’s application include U.S. Reps. Anna Eshoo (CA-16), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) and Mike Thompson (CA-04).
State supporters include State Senator Josh Becker and Assemblyman Marc Berman.
Starting Thursday, Mueller said, Santa Cruz County will collaborate with San Mateo and share its findings. Santa Clara Supervisor Joe Simitian issued a statement Thursday saying he will also ask his board of supervisors to take up the issue at its March 12 meeting.
According to Mueller, the CPUC has received more than 3,000 public comments on AT&T’s application, filled with testimony about how important landline connectivity is to them and how it keeps them safe during wildfires, natural disasters, power outages and other emergencies.
The final opportunities for public comment on AT&T's application to the CPUC are scheduled for March 14 in Indio, with a virtual hearing on March 19.
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