San Mateo County Leaders Take Stand Against AT&T's Bid to Scrap Landline Service

San Mateo County supervisors this week unanimously opposed AT&T’s effort to eliminate landlines in much of the county, arguing that the move would be detrimental to residents in rural and coastal areas where cell service is often unreliable or nonexistent.

“Today, in 2024, because of business decisions, a short distance from the heart of Silicon Valley, we have residents who are living without access to reliable communications other than copper landlines,” Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose district spans rural areas and much of the county’s coast, including Half Moon Bay and Pescadero, said during a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.

The board voted to draft a resolution opposing a request AT&T submitted last year to state regulators to no longer be California’s Carrier of Last Resort – or COLR – across much of the state. That  designation has long required the company to provide basic telephone service, typically as a landline, to millions of residents.

Mueller, who is set to introduce the resolution at the next Board meeting, said landlines are a crucial and generally more reliable means of communication for many of his constituents, particularly during power outages and other emergencies.

“The majority of residents on the San Mateo County coast and in our hillside regions would be adversely affected by this because cellphone coverage is so unreliable,” he said. “These landlines really serve as their only means of communication reliably.”

The county’s resolution opposing the cuts in service follows
At Tuesday’s meeting, Tedi Vriheas, AT&T’s vice president of external affairs for California and Nevada, sought to reassure supervisors that the company would not cut landlines where no other reliable alternatives exist.

“If you have a landline today in your house, and it is the only means of communication and there’s no alternatives, and wireless isn’t an alternative, you will keep that landline in your home,” she said.

California is the 21st state where AT&T has sought to be relieved of its COLR obligations, according to Vriheas. Alternatives are “being rolled out in other states,” she added but declined to provide specific details.

But Mueller said AT&T had yet to clearly articulate its definition of suitable “alternatives” and “reliability.”

“Until they have ironed out what they mean by all of this, we need to oppose this application because it’s a threat to the public safety of residents,” he said.

The California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to hold two more public hearings on AT&T’s application later this month, and then hear testimony from the company and opposing parties. The agency could make a decision later this year.

San Mateo is not the only county in the region to push back against the proposed cuts to service. Santa Cruz County supervisors voted last month to oppose the move. And Santa Clara County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a motion to weigh in on the process.

Back in San Mateo County, Ann, a resident of Moss Beach, told supervisors on Tuesday that while she has a cellphone, her reception is spotty at best, and she only uses her landline.

“And if it wasn’t for that, I would not feel safe on the coast at all,” she said, noting the frequency of power outages in her area. “As wonderful as cellphones are, they’re not the most reliable on the coast. And so, I think it’s really important that the alternative methods be tested and make sure that [they] will be available during power outages.”

She added, “It could be life or death for people.”