A Direct Briefing From Affiliated Communications on the End of Copper and What Comes Next

Quick Answer

Yes, POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) lines—the copper-based phone lines that have served American businesses for over a century—are being actively retired by major carriers. The FCC formally approved this transition in 2019, and carriers are accelerating retirement timelines. Most businesses still using POTS will face significant rate increases over the next 24 to 36 months, eventual forced migration, or both. The right action depends on what you’re using POTS for, but waiting is no longer the conservative choice—it’s the expensive one.

What POTS Lines Are

POTS lines are traditional copper telephone lines—the technology that’s carried voice calls since the late 1800s. They’re reliable, simple, and powered by the phone company’s central office, which means they keep working during local power outages. For most of the 20th century, POTS was the only option for business phones.

Most businesses today still use POTS lines for specific purposes even after migrating their main phone systems to VoIP or other modern platforms:

Fire alarm and security system communications
Elevator phones
Fax machines
Credit card processing terminals (some legacy models)
Emergency call boxes
Burglar alarm systems
Postage meters
Backup phone lines for emergencies

If any of these sound familiar, your business is still using POTS—even if you don’t think of yourself as a POTS customer.

Why POTS Is Going Away

The copper infrastructure that supports POTS is decades old, expensive to maintain, and increasingly difficult to repair. Carriers have been wanting to retire it for years, and several factors are now driving accelerated retirement:

Aging Infrastructure

Much of the copper network was installed in the mid-20th century. Maintaining it requires specialized skills that fewer technicians have, replacement parts that are harder to source, and capital investment in technology with no future.

Regulatory Approval

In 2019, the FCC formally approved carrier requests to retire copper TDM (time-division multiplexing) infrastructure, including POTS. The regulatory framework now supports retirement timelines that were previously blocked.

Carrier Financial Pressure

Maintaining copper while building out fiber and wireless networks costs carriers significant money. Retiring copper improves their financial picture and frees capital for investment in modern infrastructure.

Customer Migration

Most voice traffic has already moved to VoIP, cellular, and other modern technologies. The remaining POTS customers are a shrinking group, which means carriers can’t justify ongoing investment to serve them.

What Carrier Retirement Actually Looks Like

POTS retirement isn’t happening all at once. It’s happening through a few mechanisms that affect customers differently:

Rate Increases

This is the mechanism most businesses encounter first. Carriers are raising POTS rates substantially—often 50 to 200 percent over a two to three year period—to encourage migration without forcing it. We’ve seen clients’ POTS lines go from $30 per month to $80 to $100 per month for the same service.

Service Quality Degradation

As carriers reduce investment in copper, service quality issues become more common. Static, crackling, intermittent outages, and slow repair times reflect declining infrastructure investment. Some customers complain about service quality long before formal retirement.

Formal Retirement Notifications

Carriers eventually send formal notifications that POTS service in a specific area is being discontinued, with a deadline by which customers must migrate to alternatives. These notifications can come with 6 to 18 months of advance notice—but the longer you wait to act, the more constrained your options become.

Wire Center Closures

In some areas, carriers are closing the central office wire centers that serve copper customers. When the wire center closes, POTS service in the area ends regardless of customer preference.

What POTS Is Being Replaced With

POTS replacement depends on what you’re using POTS for, because different applications need different replacements.

Voice Calling: Cloud VoIP or SIP Trunks

For basic business voice service, cloud VoIP or SIP trunking replaces POTS effectively. The economics are favorable—usually 30 to 60 percent lower monthly costs—and modern voice service offers significantly more features. This is the most common POTS replacement and the easiest to plan for.

Fire Alarms and Security: POTS-in-a-Box Solutions

Fire alarm panels and security systems were designed for POTS and don’t connect directly to VoIP. POTS-in-a-box solutions provide a POTS-compatible interface that connects to modern carrier networks behind the scenes. The alarm panel doesn’t know anything changed, but the underlying connection is modern.

Elevator Phones: Cellular or POTS Replacement

Elevator phones are required by code in many jurisdictions and have specific requirements that POTS traditionally met. Modern elevator phone replacements use cellular connections (with battery backup) or POTS-replacement appliances that meet code while running on modern infrastructure.

Fax Machines: Internet Fax or VoIP Fax

Faxing over VoIP can be unreliable, but dedicated internet fax services or fax-over-IP (FoIP) appliances handle fax communication reliably. Many businesses also discover during POTS migration that they barely use their fax line and can eliminate it entirely.

Credit Card Terminals: Network or Cellular

Modern credit card terminals connect over ethernet, Wi-Fi, or cellular. Replacing dial-up terminals removes both the POTS dependency and a notable security exposure (dial-up payment processing has known vulnerabilities).

The Cost of Not Acting

Businesses that wait on POTS migration typically encounter three escalating costs:

Rising Monthly Bills

As carriers raise POTS rates, monthly costs increase substantially. A business spending $200 per month on POTS lines today may be spending $400 to $500 per month two years from now without taking any new action.

Emergency Migration Costs

Customers who wait until formal retirement notices arrive face compressed migration timelines, limited vendor availability (everyone is migrating at the same time), and rushed deployments that increase risk and cost. Planned migrations cost significantly less than emergency migrations.

Compliance Risk

For businesses where POTS supports compliance-critical systems (fire alarms, elevator phones, security), service degradation or loss creates compliance exposure. Waiting until POTS becomes unreliable can mean operating with inadequate emergency communication systems.

How to Plan Your POTS Migration

Step 1: Inventory Your POTS Lines

Most businesses don’t know exactly what POTS lines they have or what each one does. Start with a complete inventory: line numbers, monthly costs, what each line supports, and how critical each one is. We help clients build this inventory as part of telecom assessments.

Step 2: Categorize by Function

Group your POTS lines by function: voice service, fire alarm, elevator, fax, credit card, security, other. Different categories need different replacements, and planning them separately makes the migration manageable.

Step 3: Identify Quick Wins

Some POTS lines can be eliminated entirely (unused fax lines, redundant backup lines, lines for retired equipment). Eliminating these costs nothing and provides immediate savings.

Step 4: Plan Replacements by Priority

Migrate the highest-cost and lowest-risk lines first to demonstrate value and build confidence. Save compliance-critical lines for later when you have proven processes in place.

Step 5: Execute the Migration

Most POTS migrations happen over 6 to 12 months in phases. The pacing avoids overwhelming any single team and lets you adjust the approach based on early results.

Where Affiliated Communications Fits

We help North Texas businesses plan and execute POTS migration regularly. The work typically starts with a telecom audit that identifies every line you’re paying for and what each one does—a process that often surfaces significant savings even before migration begins. From there, we map replacement options for each category of line and build a phased migration plan that matches your operational priorities.

Our POTS line services include managed POTS replacement for fire alarms, elevator phones, and other compliance-critical applications, alongside cloud VoIP and SIP trunking for voice service. We handle the carrier coordination, equipment installation, and testing that ensures replacements work properly before disconnecting the legacy lines.

If you’d like a complimentary review of your current POTS lines and replacement options, contact our team for a consultation. The first conversation usually identifies savings opportunities and clarifies what your business needs to do before carrier deadlines force the issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the POTS retirement real, or is this just a sales pitch?

It’s real. The FCC formally approved POTS retirement in 2019, major carriers have published retirement timelines, and rate increases have been documented across the industry. Some specific timeline details vary by market, but the direction is unambiguous.

How long do I have before my POTS lines are disconnected?

It varies by location and carrier, but most businesses have 24 to 60 months before forced retirement. Rate increases are happening now, before formal retirement. Acting on your timeline (rather than the carrier’s) costs less and reduces risk.

Can my fire alarm panel work without a POTS line?

Yes, with the right replacement. POTS-in-a-box solutions provide a POTS-compatible interface to your existing alarm panel while connecting to modern carrier networks behind the scenes. The panel doesn’t require any changes—it sees what looks like a normal POTS line.

What about elevator phones?

Elevator phones must meet specific code requirements that POTS traditionally satisfied. Modern replacements use cellular connections (with battery backup) or POTS-replacement appliances designed to meet elevator code. We coordinate with elevator service vendors to ensure code compliance through the migration.

How much can I save by replacing POTS?

It depends on what you’re using POTS for, but most businesses save 30 to 60 percent on monthly voice costs after migrating to cloud VoIP or SIP. For compliance-critical lines, savings are typically smaller (often 10 to 30 percent) but service reliability and feature sets improve significantly.

Can I just keep using my POTS lines until they stop working?

You can, but it’s the most expensive approach. Rate increases will dramatically raise your monthly costs. Service quality will degrade as carriers reduce investment. When formal retirement arrives, you’ll face emergency migration in compressed timelines. Planned migration is significantly cheaper and lower risk.

What replaces my fax line if we still need to send faxes?

Internet fax services (cloud-based fax delivered through email) handle most fax needs reliably. For businesses that genuinely need to keep fax hardware, fax-over-IP (FoIP) appliances connect existing fax machines to modern networks. Many businesses also discover during migration that they no longer need fax capability and can eliminate it entirely.