We cannot let AT&T abandon its obligation to serve California | Opinion

Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligations are legal requirements that ensure every household and business has access to basic telephone service, regardless of location remoteness, unprofitability or access challenges. Without COLR obligations, telecommunications companies, including AT&T, would have the authority to deploy new fiber and other technologies in affluent communities, while freely neglecting low-income, rural and tribal communities it deems unprofitable.

AT&T’s affirmative obligation and public mandate arise from the inherent network effects of its service. Historically a phone company, AT&T was required to connect everyone — much like a public highway serves all communities, not just the wealthy.

Now, this principle of serving everyone with essential services is under attack. Assembly Bill 470, authored by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood, would allow AT&T to abandon its COLR obligations, eliminating mandates to provide basic home telephone service to millions of customers in rural, under-resourced and fire-prone areas.

The bill would authorize AT&T to discontinue basic phone service to residents and businesses, refuse to repair or replace downed lines after wildfires or winter storms and abandon maintenance of landline communications infrastructure. In other words, by selectively choosing where to offer service, AT&T would engage in corporate abandonment that puts lives, livelihoods and entire communities at risk.

The danger is not theoretical: it’s tangible in places like Pescadero and other rural California coastal communities. These areas face heightened risks from extreme weather events like atmospheric rivers and wildfires. In these moments, dependable communication can mean the difference between safety and tragedy.

Many residents lack affordable internet access and rely on cellular service, which is often spotty at best. When extreme weather or wildfires strike, rural communities often lose power, internet access and cellular accessibility, making landlines the most relied-upon method of communication. Eliminating them would not only compromise communication, it would also endanger lives and deepen inequities for those already underserved by modern infrastructure.

Yet, instead of strengthening protections and oversight, AB 470 undermines the authority of the state via the California Public Utilities Commission to safeguard public safety and universal access for wireless networks and broadband. The bill prohibits the commission from requiring improved location-specific 911 and improved backup batteries for wireless networks to ensure functionality during power outages.

The California Public Utilities Commission would also be prohibited from requiring internet providers to prioritize broadband deployment in underserved neighborhoods, including rural, indigenous and urban communities, such as East Los Angeles. AB 470 currently lacks any provisions to enforce AT&T’s promises regarding replacement providers, new fiber, affordable service or other claims about what glorious future lies ahead when its obligation to serve ends.

AT&T has spent over $2 million this year lobbying for AB 470, a brazen attempt to hijack the California Public Utilities Commission proceeding on the future of COLR. This process has already included six public hearings, ensuring that every interested party — including AT&T, residents and consumer advocates — has a seat at the table in a fair and equitable process that prioritizes public safety and the public interest.

No wonder organizations including the California Alliance for Digital Equity, 911 public safety dispatchers, the California Farm Bureau Federation, the Communications Workers of America, District 9 (representing AT&T workers) oppose AB 470.

It’s critical that the future of the obligation to serve Californians be decided by the California Public Utilities Commission, not by a multinational corporation. We cannot risk leaving thousands of Californians disconnected from essential services.

Mark Toney has served as executive director of The Utility Reform Network since 2007, which has held telecommunications and utility companies accountable to providing their customers with universal and affordable phone service, and clean and affordable power for over 50 years. Kat Taylor, an advocate for social justice and environmental sustainability, is co-founder and co-board chair of Beneficial State Bank. She also serves as a founding director of TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation, promoting regenerative food systems.

This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "We cannot let AT&T abandon its obligation to serve California | Opinion."