AT&T copper sunset starts June 2026. Ohio businesses with fire alarm panels, elevator phones, or alarm lines on POTS — here's the deadline, the replacement options, and the install timeline.
AT&T POTS Sunset 2026 - The Ohio Business Deadline.
Fire panels. Elevator phones. Alarm circuits. Fax. If any of these still run on copper, you have a deadline.
First Ohio wire-center decommissions start mid-2026
Cellular failover lead times now 12 weeks
Free POTS-line audit for Ohio businesses
AT&T is decommissioning copper wire centers across Ohio on a published FCC-approved schedule. If your building has a fire alarm panel, an elevator emergency phone, an alarm panel that calls a monitoring station, or a fax machine that still actually rings, there's a high probability you're running on POTS lines that are about to disappear. We've audited dozens of Ohio buildings in the last 6 months and the average count is 4-12 POTS lines per location, almost all of them critical to building safety or business operations.
The deadline isn't soft. When the wire center decomissions, the line stops working. Not slow, not degraded - gone. Your fire panel can't reach the monitoring station, your alarm system fails its monthly test, your elevator emergency call goes nowhere. The AHJ failures and code violations that follow are expensive.
When your wire center shuts down, every POTS line served from it stops functioning. AT&T isn't obligated to find you a replacement - the line is gone and the responsibility for migrating off it is on the building owner / business owner.
Fire alarm panelCellular failover (UL864-listed, AHJ-approved)$50-$80/line$400-$800/panel
Elevator phoneCellular elevator phone unit (ASME A17.1-compliant)$40-$70/car$300-$600/car
Security alarmCellular communicator on alarm panel$30-$60/line$200-$400/panel
Gate intercomCellular intercom with mobile app$30-$60/gate$300-$1,200/gate
Lead-time reality check. As of May 2026, cellular failover hardware lead times are at 12 weeks and rising. POTS-replacement specialists are fully booked. If you start the project in May, you can land by August. Wait until October and you're looking at January - past several Ohio wire-center cutoff dates. Now is the right time.
Hosted VoIP for Columbus, Ohio - if you're also replacing your phone system at the same time.
Business Continuity Telecom Ohio - redundancy planning for what comes after POTS.
Time-sensitive Ohio deadlines starting mid-2026
AT&T filed FCC notices starting in 2022 to retire its TDM-based copper voice network. The retirement happens wire center by wire center across Ohio. The first wave of Ohio decommissions starts mid-2026, with cascading cutoffs through 2026-2028 depending on your specific central office.
These are the usual suspects. Most are under $50/month per line individually - easy to ignore until they stop working:
Your fire panel calls the central monitoring station over a phone line every time it tests or alarms. UL864-rated DACT lines are almost always POTS today.
Every passenger elevator in Ohio has an emergency phone wired to the cab. The phone calls out over a POTS line. ASME A17.1 code requires it work.
Security alarm panels phone out to the monitoring company over POTS. Many older systems don't support IP/cellular backup natively.
Yes, fax is still a thing - healthcare, legal, and insurance especially. The fax line itself is POTS. E-fax / cloud fax is the replacement.
Apartment/office gate intercoms that "dial" to authorize entry usually use POTS.
Legacy POS, utility meter dial-back, generator monitoring, HVAC alarm dial-out - if it has a phone jack, it's POTS.
DeviceCompliant replacementMonthly costOne-time install
Modem-based circuitCellular IoT modem or replace with IP-based device$20-$50/line$150-$400/device
Doesn't work for fire panels (most won't pass UL864 over SIP), elevator phones (ASME A17.1 requires battery backup and supervised line), or security alarm panels (most require dedicated supervised line).
Generic cellular modems don't carry UL864/UL985 listings. AHJ won't sign off. You need device-specific, code-compliant gear - usually from DMP, Telular, Honeywell, or similar.
Pull your last 3 months of telecom invoices. We identify every POTS line, what it powers, and which wire center serves it.
We cross-reference your wire centers against the FCC retirement docket. Tells us how much time you have.
Code-compliant replacement spec'd for each device. Includes AHJ submission docs for fire panels and elevator phones.
We order from the right manufacturers for AHJ compliance. We carry lead-time risk.
Fire panel installs require coordination with your fire monitoring company and AHJ. We handle.
Monthly test pass on every replaced device. AHJ re-inspection where required.
Once new system is verified working for 30 days, we file disconnects on the old POTS - saves you the recurring charge.
Cellular signal strength changes, batteries age. We re-verify yearly.
Written record for your insurance carrier, fire marshal, and any future building sale.
Six Weeks, Six Failures: The Concentration Risk Behind 2026's Telecom Outages - the broader infrastructure picture, including AT&T POTS sunset.
Text or upload your most recent telecom invoices. We identify every POTS line on your bill, the wire center serving each, the AT&T sunset timeline for that wire center, and the code-compliant replacement path per device. Written report within 5 business days. No deck, no obligation. We'll tell you exactly how much time you have.
AT&T began the FCC-approved POTS retirement process in 2022. The first wave of wire-center decommissions in Ohio starts mid-2026, with full deprecation rolling through 2026-2028 depending on your specific central office. The exact cutoff date for your building depends on the wire center serving your address.
The usual suspects: fire alarm panels (DACT lines to monitoring stations), elevator emergency phones, security alarm panels, fax machines, gate intercoms, modem-based alarm circuits, paging amps, and legacy point-of-sale credit-card terminals. Most are under $50/month per line individually - easy to ignore until they stop working.
No. Most fire panels won't pass UL864 over standard SIP trunks, and your AHJ won't sign off. The two compliant paths are: (1) cellular failover hardware specifically rated for fire panel use, or (2) IP-based monitoring with a UL-listed gateway. We deploy both depending on the panel.
Cellular failover hardware lead times are at 12 weeks as of May 2026 (and rising). POTS-replacement specialists are booked out. If you start the project in May 2026, install can usually complete by August. If you wait until October, you're looking at January - which is past some wire-center cutoff dates in Ohio.
Per-line costs vary by device: fire panel cellular failover runs $50-$80/month plus a $400-$800 one-time install per panel. Fax line replacement (e-fax or hosted) is typically $15-$40/month. Elevator phone migration is $40-$70/month per car. Hardware lead times and AHJ inspections drive total project timeline more than cost.
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