Jessica Sabin, a national service director at Axess Family Services, recalls her grandma making frequent calls on her landline to stay in contact with her sister, as she wasn’t comfortable using her cell phone.
At Axess, Sabin oversees AmeriCorps Seniors, a volunteer program helping older adults serve the Portage County community and connect with others. Understanding how her grandmother’s landline prevented her from experiencing isolation, Sabin now worries AT&T’s decision to phase out its copper-based landlines may cut off older adults from the rest of the world.
“[Isolation] leads to a lot of times people not being able to live on their own as long as they might want to; it leads to cognitive decline,” Sabin said. “So, I think just having that connection and allowing yourself to be connected to people as much as you can be is so important for so many different reasons.”
Starting in September 2027, AT&T plans to no longer offer its copper-based landlines in Ohio, including Portage County.
An AT&T spokesperson, who declined to give their name, noted that copper-based technologies are outdated and can be unreliable because of the older technology, increased copper theft and disasters.
“Copper does not hold up well to water and flooding, causing longer repair times and disruptions for customers,” they said. “Modern networks are more resilient in disasters — restored faster, less vulnerable to damage and supported by temporary wireless facilities that help keep communities connected.”
Why the change from copper?
According to an April 2026 AT&T blog by Susan Johnson, senior executive vice president of transformation and supply chain, the provider will exit from its copper network in “the majority of our wireline footprint by the end of 2029, and (will) help customers upgrade to newer, high-quality services.”
This transition was announced in 2024, after AT&T noticed “less than 2% of our eligible customers are still using legacy copper voice technology, as most customers have chosen to upgrade to more reliable services such as fiber and wireless,” according to a spokesperson.
AT&T’s plans to retire landlines does not have any pending approvals from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, but it is awaiting approval from the FCC.
Although the company has other service options in place of landlines, these changes have the potential to impact the Portage County community in a multitude of ways.
“It makes me sad to think about the people who rely on their landlines, talk to their friends or their family, and that might be the only one that they’re talking to throughout the day,” Sabin said. “To have to navigate through this, I think it’s going to take some time for people.”
Impacts on rural and low-income communities
Josh Goodwin, director of the Ohio Poverty Law Center, said families and individuals who live in rural areas rely on landlines as a primary form of communication.
“If you’re in poverty, a lot of times, you have to apply for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits or food stamps that require an interview to be conducted,” he said. “A lot of times folks want those interviews done by telephone. If you don’t have reliable telephone service, you may struggle to complete those interviews.”
A 2024 federal study discovered adults below the federal poverty threshold (83%) were more likely than adults with a family income 200% of federal poverty threshold or greater (77.8%) to be wireless only, meaning they don’t use landlines. However, there are still income-low adults utilizing landlines.
Landlines also aid people in finding transportation in areas, like Ross County, where there is no public transportation.
“If you’re out in Bainbridge, there is no structured, formalized public transportation option from some of the far-flung parts of our counties to where the local Job and Family Services office is,” Goodwin said. “So, you’re stuck trying to hitch a ride with somebody, you’re paying gas for somebody or you’re just not going in and you’re trying to call in.”
This barrier is compounded when families and individuals with low income live in rural areas where cell reception can be spotty.
“If you’ve been waiting on hold to get a hold of your local Job and Family Services agency, and you finally get your call answered and you’re in the middle of a 45-minute SNAP interview, the last thing you want to do is have your call dropped because of spotty coverage, and that just doesn’t happen with a landline,” he said.
For individuals with stable sources of income who want to support others during this transition, Goodwin urges them to help individuals understand why this change to AT&T copper-based landlines is important and what’s going to happen.
“For folks who are in poverty, they’ve got enough challenges as it is,” he said. “This is just one more barrier that may be insurmountable for some of them.”
How landlines provide older adults with connection
The same federal study discovered only 57.9% of adults 65 and older are wireless only, meaning the remaining percentage either uses both landlines and wireless connection or solely landlines.
Sabin explained a number of AmeriCorps’ volunteers either use their cell phones rarely or have simplified phones like Jitterbugs but still consistently utilize landlines.
“A lot of our volunteers are economically challenged and they live on very fixed incomes, so I think — I don’t know what it cost to have a landline anymore — if [the cost] is not comparable, that could be a definite concern,” she said.
With older adults living in rural parts of Portage County, she worries spotty cell reception could hinder rapid response from emergency services, jeopardizing older adults’ safety.
Following the retirement of its copper-based landlines, AT&T advises customers to purchase its AT&T Phone - Advanced (AP-A), which works similarly to a landline but through a wireless network. AP-A doesn’t require internet connection and allows customers to use landline-style phones.
The AP-A meets FCC standards for replacing traditional phone services.
“AP-A has antennas that provide an enhanced wireless signal which makes it different than a cell phone,” the spokesperson said. “The antennas add a significant gain in signal to what (modem) is already available in the home, and the device is stationary once a signal has been established.”
In the event of a power outage or other emergency, AP-A has a built-in 24-hour automatic battery that works with other services like home alert systems, medical monitoring devices and fax machines, allowing it to continue working during an outage like traditional landlines.
Those who don’t opt in to AP-A have connectivity options from cable providers, fixed wireless providers and other wireless carriers.
A key part of Sabin’s job is keeping older adults informed and providing them with information on topics such as AT&T’s latest landline decision. However, Sabin herself wasn’t aware of the news, making it difficult to educate others about it.
“Our volunteers haven’t mentioned it. I don’t know that they are aware, so this sort of brought up some issues for us,” she said.
To remedy this problem, Sabin has started researching when AT&T landline removal will go into effect and what these changes will look like in order to share information with her volunteers and clients.
If approved by the FCC, the company will follow Ohio’s customer notification requirements leading up to Sept. 1, 2027 — when the provider would no longer offer copper-based landlines in Ohio — the spokesperson explained.
With the elimination of copper-based landlines, they confirmed that no customer would be left without access to voice or 911 services during the year-long transition.
To keep customers informed, AT&T will reach out to them in various ways such as letters, emails and phone calls, encouraging them to upgrade their services.
Understanding how adapting to using the AP-A can be a change, Sabin encourages older adults to reach out to AT&T and ask questions about it.
“Sometimes it is scary, it is confusing, so just being open to letting somebody help you, I think, is big,” she said.
For older adults deciding to find another landline provider, she suggests they consider the cost long term, how those costs can increase over time and coverage reliability in rural areas, while still being willing to ask for help.
Family members and caretakers of older adults also play a vital role in preparing their loved ones for this transition.
“So, just being patient and sharing that knowledge that they might have, especially for those of us in that sandwich generation where we’re taking care of parents and grandparents,” she said. “Being patient about explaining technology, answering questions and helping them to pick the best service for them, for their finances, for their household, etc.”