Last updated · Written for practice managers and office administrators.
What is being retired
“Copper retirement” has a legal definition. Under 47 CFR § 51.325 it means the removal or disabling of copper loops, subloops or the feeder portion of the loop, or their replacement with fiber-to-the-home or fiber-to-the-curb. A fax machine needs an analog loop with dial tone — the thing being removed. The telephone number attached to that loop is a separate asset and is portable under the number-portability rules.
What the FCC has decided
| Rule or order | What it does |
|---|---|
| FCC 19-72 (adopted July 26, 2019) | Granted USTelecom’s petition for forbearance from the unbundling obligation for analog copper loops and from avoided-cost resale. Competitors lost the right to lease the incumbents’ analog loops at regulated rates, which removed one reason to keep copper in service. |
| 47 CFR § 51.333 | Copper retirement notices to interconnecting carriers become final on the 90th day after release (15 days where the copper serves no customers). |
| 47 CFR § 63.71 | A carrier that discontinues, reduces or impairs a retail service must notify all affected customers in writing, giving the date, the areas affected and the service; technology-transition discontinuances carry added disclosures, including loss of line power on the replacement. |
| DA 25-248 (Wireline Competition Bureau, March 20, 2025) | Waived for two years the “stand-alone” requirement for legacy voice discontinuance applications and the requirement that a single replacement service satisfy all three prongs of the Adequate Replacement Test. The Bureau said the relief “will broaden the ability of applicants to qualify for streamlined treatment.” |
Streamlined treatment matters because, as the March 2025 order recites, a streamlined discontinuance application is automatically granted on the 31st day (non-dominant carriers) or 60th day (dominant carriers) after the Bureau accepts it, unless the Bureau removes it from streamlined processing. Customers can file comments in that window. The practical effect for a fax line: once your carrier files for your area, the clock is short.
What the carriers have said
- AT&T. In its December 3, 2024 press release (filed with the SEC as an exhibit to a Form 8-K): “While building the network of the future, the Company is actively working to exit its legacy copper network operations across the large majority of its wireline footprint by the end of 2029.”
- Verizon. Its Network Disclosures page lists copper retirement notices by state and wire center, with entries dated through 2026 (for example Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio and Rhode Island in September 2026), each as a downloadable notice.
- CenturyLink / Lumen. Its Network Disclosures page states that the 1996 Telecommunications Act requires it to give reasonable public notice of network changes, and lists numbered copper retirement and decommissioning notices dated through September 2026 across multiple states.
These are carrier-wide programmes. The date for a particular building comes from the notice for that wire center, and from the state rules that still apply. If you have not received a notice, that does not mean your area is not scheduled — check with your carrier.
What it means for a fax line
Three things end when the copper loop is retired: the analog dial tone, the line power that keeps a phone working in a blackout, and the assumption that a modem on that line will negotiate cleanly with a modem at the other end. Replacement voice services are delivered over fiber or wireless and depend on premises power; the discontinuance rules require the carrier to disclose that. Whether a given replacement carries a fax call reliably is a product question — ask the carrier, and get the answer in writing.
The number itself is not at risk from the retirement. It is at risk from timing: a number that has been disconnected cannot be ported (CenturyLink’s wholesale rules say so in as many words, and it is true at every carrier). A practice that waits for the line to go dark and then tries to move the number has waited too long.
What to do before the notice arrives
- Inventory every line. Fax, alarm panel, elevator phone, credit-card terminal, lab equipment. Each has its own replacement path; this guide covers the fax line.
- Pull the bills. For each fax number: carrier, account number, account-holder name, service address, any PIN printed on the bill. The porting guide lists what each carrier validates.
- Check portability now. The free check tells you which carrier holds each number and whether it can move. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
- Decide the destination. Online fax with the ported number, a VoIP adapter for a machine that must stay, or the carrier’s replacement service. The alternatives guide compares them.
- Port while the line is live. Simple ports must complete within one business day of a complete request under 47 CFR § 52.35; end to end, budget about seven business days. Test the new setup while the old line still works, then cancel.
- Update the directory entries that matter. None of your contacts need a new number, but confirm your listing with payers and referral sources shows the number you ported, not a secondary line you are dropping.