Copper is going dark faster than most migration plans assume. The U.S. lost 3.2 million traditional landlines this past year, a 17.6% drop, according to the FCC’s Voice Telephone Services report. Businesses still hold 8.6 million of the 15 million lines that remain, and many are affected by POTS line retirement.
Many of those lines aren’t phones at all. They connect fire alarm panels, elevator emergency phones, and security systems that haven’t been touched in years.
The rules now favor speed
AT&T plans to largely exit its copper network by 2029, according to Telecompetitor. In March 2026 the FCC unanimously adopted an order easing copper network retirement, giving carriers blanket authority to eliminate legacy voice service, per Broadband Breakfast. As a result, POTS line retirement is accelerating for many carriers.
Grandfathering matters more than it sounds. Once a line is grandfathered, you usually can’t add, move, or replace it. Lose one to a cut cable or a remodel, and you may not be able to order another, especially with POTS line retirement underway.
Most of what’s on copper isn’t a phone
Two out of three lines MarketSpark migrates aren’t voice lines. Here’s the mix:
- Fire alarm: 36%
- Voice: 34%
- Security alarm: 12%
- Elevator: 8%
- Modem: 6%
- Fax: 4%
Fire alarms, security alarms, and elevator phones together make up 56% of the total. That’s why POTS replacement is a life safety decision, not a phone project. Additionally, organizations should prepare as POTS line retirement approaches.
Waiting costs more than money
In MarketSpark audits, customers typically pay about $120 per line per month before they migrate. But cost isn’t the biggest risk. A fire alarm panel that can’t reach its monitoring station fails inspection under NFPA 72, and phone systems still have to meet Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act 911 requirements.
The pattern we see most: a carrier notice arrives, the clock starts, and the organization learns it doesn’t know what’s on its lines.
What a good migration looks like
The organizations that finish on schedule inventory every line, move life safety lines first, confirm local code requirements early, and roll out in waves with end-to-end testing at every site. Ultimately, proactive preparation is vital with POTS line retirement accelerating nationally.
That’s how MarketSpark works. 98% of our installs are completed on the first visit, with no return trip. Hardware-centric approaches that depend on ideal site conditions often can’t say the same, requiring follow-up visits and repeat truck rolls that stretch timelines and add cost. A first-visit completion rate like ours isn’t luck; it’s the result of a site survey and engineered configuration done before a technician is ever dispatched.
A standard, fully-managed deployment runs about 22 business days, roughly four to five weeks, from order submission to a verified, tested install, including the site survey that makes first-visit completion possible. That timeline is a predictable default, not a delay: it reflects a disciplined process that gets the install right the first time rather than a fast cutover that needs return trips. When a disconnection notice or a life-safety issue demands it, expedited deployment is available on an accelerated timeline.
Get the full report
Copper’s Final Years: What the Data Says About POTS Line Retirement covers the full regulatory timeline, a closer look at what’s on enterprise copper, the compliance risks of waiting, and a step-by-step migration roadmap.