How Many Copper Wires Are In Plain-old Telephone Service (Pots)?

The chart to a higher place is a summary of how AT&T has been manipulating the accounting of its mostly copper-based, country-based, utility networks. AT&T claims no one is using the networks and if they can 'shut off the copper', this time they volition bring next generation wireless services, including 5G, to America. And to help AT&T et al. push this plan along, there is industry-created legislation, like the California bill, SB-649, besides as proceedings at the FCC. (SB-649 preempts state and city laws to put in 'small cell' wireless, with the merits it will replace (and shut off) the wired networks.)

Ironically, these 'next generation' wireless services, when and if they do testify upwardly, will require a fiber optic wire to connect to small cell antennas every block or two. Does anyone really believe that AT&T is of a sudden going to wire cities, much less rural or even suburban areas with cobweb now?

In fact, poor AT&T claims that there take been major declines in access lines.

"Retail POTS (Plain Old Phone Service) subscriptions take declined to the point that less than 17% of households purchase switched-access vox service from an ILEC, and these services will simply keep to turn down."

Unfortunately, this is a useless, made up statistic designed to go rid of regulations. Though information technology sounds convincing, the fine print reveals that AT&T is leaving out the bulk of other copper-based lines that are used for VoIP, DSL, U-Verse, Business concern Data Services; information technology even leaves out business organisation lines. Stare at the quote and y'all'll see it is only for 'residential', 'vocalisation' services. I'll come back to this chart in a moment. ("ILEC" is an industry term for the companies that control the wires, mainly AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon.)

The Fiber Optic Embarrassment

Non including nigh of the access lines is one thing; Just worse, even though AT&T has claimed multiple times it was going to bring fiber optic upgrades to America over the last ii decades, instead, AT&T'southward cobweb deployment has been an embarrassment. AT&T is the state utility in 21 states, which covers about 76 million residential and business 'locations', simply as of July 2017, AT&T only 'passes' a paltry iv.6 million locations with fiber-to-the-bounds services—about half dozen% of the total. (Note: The term "passes" represents that a household or business should be able to get the service; information technology is non counting actual customers with the service.)

This deployment has been distributed to include 52 metropolitan areas. Do the math. This means that the company is only covering a fraction of the population in every city, which includes Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta. These new fiber lines, so, are more for publicity and to influence policy; they are merely 'fiber to the press release'. (Too, AT&T is required nether the AT&T-DirecTV merger to practice fiber deployments, so the plan has been to use this to help build their wireless networks at the same time.)

In short, AT&T had acquirement of $154 billion dollars in the US in 2016, and notwithstanding, subsequently 25 years, the visitor has only vi% of their territories covered with a fiber optic to the dwelling house service in 21 states.

Moreover, this means that the rest of the lines are mostly just the existing, crumbling copper wires. (U-Verse is a copper-to-the-home service, as is DSL, as are most of the Business organization Data Services, which are now the majority of lines.)

Another source of access lines in service was from the FCC's "Statistics of Communications Common Carriers", which the FCC stopped publishing in 2007. This excerpt shows that AT&T California had 13.vii million bones lines (switched lines), which would be the POTS lines, (but this included both concern and other services that the AT&T conveniently left out in their 2017 data). Notwithstanding, there was an boosted 22.2 1000000 lines of the Business Information Services (originally called "special access"), the majority, that were not included in the current AT&T accounting. (There are a host of caveats, merely in 2017 the FCC doesn't supply whatever info on the actual number of lines in service.)

While the original POTS voice basic service lines accept declined, a lot of lines 'migrated' to these other services, like U-Verse vocalism, or the wires to the wireless hot spots. When a migration happens, while the copper wire is the same concrete wire, the service riding over the wire changes the nomenclature – and so information technology counts as a 'line loss' in the bones access line accounting.

In fact, all lines classified equally "interstate" (crossing land lines) or an "data" service, or "IP", or "data", are not in the accounting and these are under the jurisdiction of the FCC. The only lines counted are classified as "intrastate", (in-state), and this is merely POTS.

In no proceeding has the FCC supplied the full number of lines currently in service or explained what happened since 2007 with the access line accounting.

Why Do This Accounting Manipulation?

AT&T'southward programme is to force-march customers onto wireless service for the dwelling house instead of maintaining and upgrading the networks to fiber for residential and business customers—considering it makes them more than money. They tin can as well accuse by the gig instead of the more generous wireline service plans, thus make more than coin. At the aforementioned time, the company will privatize the data lines and dismantle the state utility, simply requite its own subsidiaries financial perks and benefits no other competitor can go.

And this plan is not new. AT&T'southward original FCC IP Transition plan from 2012 stated that at to the lowest degree 25% of the wireline networks would not exist feasible to upgrade - then they, too, would be 'shut off' and migrated to wireless.

"In the 25 percent of AT&T's wireline customer locations where it's currently not economically viable to build a competitive IP wireline network, the company said it will utilize its expanding 4G LTE wireless network — equally it becomes available — to offer voice and loftier-speed IP Internet services."

What Should Happen Next?

Based on the accounting of lines and connections, as told by AT&T's annual and quarterly reports, filings, and press releases, etc.:

Every regulator should now consider removing AT&T'due south utility franchise for its failure to properly upgrade the original copper-based utility with cobweb optics, besides as to stop the cross-subsidies of the utility networks and the other AT&T subsidiaries.
AT&T's other businesses and subsidiaries should be separated from the state utility and they should be paying retail, market prices for all services, just like all competitors.
AT&T should exist investigated for the billions of dollars transferred to these other lines of business (and for the transfer of funds for use in other countries)—and become the money dorsum.
In fact, AT&T'due south accounting of copper-based access lines has been manipulated and should be investigated as 50-90% of all lines in service are NOT counted.

Nosotros will discuss AT&T'south plan to 'shut off the copper' and move customers onto more expensive wireless, based on what the company filed at the FCC. And we will go through the miss-accounting of access lines detailed in the previous chart.

Let'due south Become Through this by the Numbers:

1) AT&T covers near 76 meg 'locations', which includes households and small businesses. These are not actual customers only homes and businesses that are in AT&T's 21 country territories. (Note: AT&T had 22 states but sold off Connecticut.)

two) After 25 years of challenge that the company would deploy fiber optic upgrades, AT&T but "passes" iv.six meg locations that tin can become its fiber optic service, or 6% of the total, as of July 2017.

AT&T's July 2017 FCC Filing:

"AT&T currently offers gigabit, cobweb-based service to 4.six million locations across 52 major metropolitan areas and plans to add 2 meg more locations and 23 more metro areas in 2017."

Considering in that location are simply 4.6 million locations being 'offered', non customers, and it is spread beyond 52 major metropolitan areas, that means that, on average, there are only 88,000 locations in a metropolis existence covered.

Annotation: This fiber-based statistic is for both business concern and residential 'locations'; the 'reject' mentioned is only residential vox customers, not data customers and not businesses. So, these lines are non function of the accounting.

Here is AT&T's map of the US describing the fiber deployment. The large uncovered areas are because AT&T is just putting in fiber in their electric current wireline states, not in Centurylink (the western states), or Verizon, (the E Coast states, from Virginia to Massachusetts).

Click to see the list of cities which includes Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta, among others. (Note: The list shows 54 cities.)

This next excerpt is one of my favorite details—the deployment is in total swing to 650,000 apartments and condos, nationwide. Moving the locator , I focused on California—a few hundred units in/nigh San Francisco, a couple hundred more in LA. (The map gives different amounts every time I clicked on it.)

Worth repeating:

AT&T had $154 billion dollars of revenue in the U in 2016, and after 25 years, the company has 6% of their territories covered in 21 states with a fiber to the domicile service, which includes 650,000 apartments and condos.

Returning to the Nautical chart

3) AT&T claims it has 5.viii million retail residential access lines. AT&T does not give the number of actual 'total' lines in service; these are only residential lines.

four) In the June 2017 AT&T filing, AT&T claims that there are only 17% of 'households' using vocalization telephone service.

5) This would mean that AT&T should take approximately 34 million wired households in its territories (if 17% is v.8 million). (Annotation: AT&T is using the overall national numbers for the number of households so as to hibernate how many actual copper-based lines are nevertheless in service.)

Missing from the Admission Line Accounting: Copper Based U-Verse and VOIP

6) AT&T has 5.4 1000000 IP (VoIP) Consumer Vox Connections. These additional customer lines have not been included in the access line accounting of "POTS" lines, fifty-fifty though these are virtually probable using a copper-based phone line. And over again, these are only 'residential customers'; they are non full lines.

I.e.; AT&T has five.8 million basic residential phone lines, while information technology has some other 5.iv million "VoIP' 'consumer' vocalization lines, which are non counted. Thus, the migration from the 'legacy' copper-based service to the U-Verse VOIP copper-based phone service, are Not counted.

Moreover, in the accounting of the lines in Particular 4, "Percent of Customers Using "POTS" – the migration to VOIP shows upwardly every bit a 'line loss' of the POTS lines, but since it is the exact same copper wire, information technology is simply a manipulation of the bookkeeping of lines in service.

Then We have the Broadband Connections

vii-x) The copper-based broadband connections include U-Verse, with only 4.ii 1000000 lines total, DSL with 1.3 million lines and "IP" broadband, which is now thirteen million. Because all broadband is IP, and some of these tin be part of a triple play, where the vocalisation, U-Verse cable and broadband are all role of a package, it would appear that there are probably 15-20 million total lines that are mostly likely copper wires in use that are not counted in AT&T's declining copper wires. (Nosotros do non know if AT&T included any DirecTV services in these numbers, as there is a separate category in the AT&T accounting for DirecTV video.)

More Lines Not Counted

11) Concern Data Services are NOT Counted.

12) Business Access Lines Not Counted

13) Access Lines Wholesale to Competitors

In reviewing AT&T's FCC filings and AT&T's SEC annual and quarterly reports, one affair stands out – it has decided to leave out the number of business organization lines as well as the number of Business Data Service lines, (sometimes called 'Special Access'). And it doesn't include the wholesale lines to competitors, which are too not detailed anywhere.

14) Lines Not Counted. We estimate that fifty-90% of the lines in service are missing, which are mostly copper, and could be shut off. However, without an audit there is no way of knowing merely how many customers are in 'shut-off' zones. This number includes Business Data lines (special access).

Thus, the FCC's proposals to 'close off the copper' and preempt state laws, with the data that they have presented, should be taken to court. Information technology invalidates every function of the FCC'due south statement. And since the FCC has made no try to identify the impacts on customers, what they will come up with is guaranteed to not answer the basic questions nosotros presented or supply a valid calculation of harms on customers, cities and states.

This is what AT&T wants, according to their filings:

"COMMENTS OF AT&T SERVICES, INC. ON NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING, Detect OF Inquiry, AND Request FOR COMMENT

AT&T writes:

"The Commission Should Preempt State and Local Laws and Other Legal Requirements that Inhibit Broadband Deployment."

To Summarize AT&T's Position:

AT&T's filings telephone call for preempting states' rights where the state requires the incumbent phone company to continue its 'carrier of last resort' obligations; i.e., not have to supply service from the utility at all.
AT&T wants to 'streamline' the notification process so that they can 'shut off' customers at volition and non have to notify the 'retail customer' or make sure that there is another replacement that is 'adequate'. In the July 2017 AT&T filing at the FCC, the Table of Contents included:
"The Commission Should Eliminate "Mandated" Retail Client Discover Requirements"
"The Commission Should Carelessness the 'Adequate Replacement' Exam."
AT&T wants the FCC to 'forbear' and so that it tin can share information with other entities, significant their own affiliate companies, earlier in that location is a formal announcement.
AT&T doesn't believe government entities, including the FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, or the government using legacy data services, should have special treatment.
AT&T wants no commitments required, no obligations left, no financial accounting to be submitted.
AT&T wants no country or even urban center zoning problems to worry about.

The fact that AT&T has created a shell game with the accounting of lines to deceive the public and regulators should be the best indication for the need to commencement investigations immediately, and to start the process to divest the affiliate companies from the state utilities, immediately.