Knoxville, TN, March 26, 2026 — The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to eliminate key regulatory protections governing copper network retirement, effective upon publication in the Federal Register. The order, confirmed by Bloomberg, removes the federal approval requirements carriers previously needed before discontinuing legacy copper telephone service and eliminates the procedural mechanisms that allowed customers and state regulators to challenge or delay retirements.

What the Order Does

The FCC adopted the “Network and Services Modernization Order: Reducing Barriers to Network Improvements and Service Changes; Accelerating Network Modernization” (WC Docket Nos. 25-208, 25-209). Bloomberg confirmed passage on March 26, 2026. The order makes four structural changes to how carriers retire copper telephone networks:

Section 214 discontinuance applications eliminated. Carriers were previously required to file a formal application with the FCC and receive approval before retiring copper service. That process — which included a public comment period and could add months to a retirement timeline — is now eliminated. Carriers no longer need federal approval to retire copper. They need to give customers notice.

Section 251(c)(5) network change disclosures eliminated. This was the procedural mechanism through which state regulators and other stakeholders could formally challenge or delay copper retirements at the federal level. The FCC has eliminated it. Carriers can now proceed with copper retirement without triggering the federal network change disclosure review process.

Grandfathering provisions eliminated. Federal protections that allowed certain customers to remain on legacy copper services beyond a carrier’s announced retirement date have been removed. There is no longer a federal mechanism to extend copper service past a carrier’s chosen retirement date.

90-day customer notice preserved. The order retains the requirement that carriers provide at least 90 days’ direct written notice to customers before retiring copper service. What was eliminated were the federal review processes that previously added time on top of that window. The 90-day notice is now the only remaining federal requirement before service retirement.

Regulatory Context

Thursday’s vote is the next step in the FCC’s multi-year copper modernization trajectory. In 2025, the Commission reduced advance notice requirements for copper retirements, signaling a policy direction toward removing barriers to network transitions. The March 2026 order accelerates that trajectory by eliminating the two principal federal approval mechanisms that remained.

Before this order, a carrier seeking to retire copper in a given wire center had to file a Section 214 discontinuance application, navigate a public comment period, and await FCC approval — a process that could extend a retirement by several months. Carriers also faced the Section 251(c)(5) disclosure requirement, which provided a formal window for state regulators and advocates to intervene. Both pathways are now closed. The 90-day customer notice is the sole remaining regulatory step between a carrier’s retirement decision and service termination.

RCN Technologies Statement

Reed Perryman, VP of Sales and Marketing at RCN Technologies, issued the following statement:

“The FCC’s vote today removes the federal review framework that regulated how carriers retired copper networks. The Section 214 process gave customers and regulators a formal window to respond to retirement plans — that process is now gone. From a regulatory standpoint, the copper retirement timeline is now entirely in the carriers’ hands, and organizations need to understand that the safeguards they may have been counting on no longer exist at the federal level.”

About RCN Technologies

RCN Technologies is a Knoxville, TN-based managed solutions provider specializing in wireless connectivity, network modernization, and telecommunications transformation. As an Ericsson Cradlepoint Elite Partner, RCN designs and delivers enterprise-grade LTE and 5G solutions that enable organizations to transition from legacy copper infrastructure to secure, managed, and code-compliant wireless alternatives.

Contact:
Reed Perryman, VP of Sales and Marketing
(865) 293-0350 | rcntechnologies.com

Source: Bloomberg, March 26, 2026. FCC Fact Sheet DOC-419252A1, March 5, 2026. Read the Bloomberg report.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the FCC vote on?
The FCC voted to adopt the “Network and Services Modernization Order: Reducing Barriers to Network Improvements and Service Changes; Accelerating Network Modernization” (WC Docket Nos. 25-208, 25-209). The order eliminates the federal requirements that carriers obtain FCC approval before retiring copper telephone networks and removes the procedural mechanisms that previously allowed customers and state regulators to formally challenge or delay retirements.

What is Section 214 of the Communications Act?
Section 214 required carriers to file a formal discontinuance application with the FCC and receive explicit approval before ending or reducing a telecommunications service, including copper POTS line service. The public comment period attached to that process gave customers, state regulators, and other parties time to formally object to a proposed retirement. That requirement has been eliminated by this order.

What does the preserved 90-day notice requirement mean?
The order retains the requirement that carriers provide at least 90 days’ direct written notice to customers before retiring copper service. However, the federal review processes that previously ran alongside or after that notice period — including the Section 214 approval process and the Section 251(c)(5) challenge mechanism — have been eliminated. Customers now have 90 days from notice to find alternatives, with no federal mechanism to extend that window.

When does the order take effect?
The order takes effect upon publication in the Federal Register. The full text of the adopted order and commissioner statements will be available following that publication. The FCC’s advance fact sheet (DOC-419252A1) was published March 5, 2026.

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