America is in a global race for technological leadership. China understands this. Beijing is investing aggressively to dominate artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, advanced communications, and next-generation digital infrastructure. It shows no sign of slowing down. The question for the United States is simple: Will we build the networks of the future or keep spending billions to preserve the networks of the past?
Incredibly, there is a debate over how and when to allow broadband providers permission to retire old copper phone lines. This is like having to get permission to replace dial-up phones with today’s handhelds. And the answer matters not just to the telecom industry, but to everyone who depends on reliable, affordable connectivity.
For more than a century, copper lines helped connect households and businesses. They served the country well. But copper was built for an analog age, not for AI, telehealth, supercomputing, precision logistics, and the modern digital economy.
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Today, only a small fraction of customers still rely on traditional copper service. In one recent case, AT&T said copper serves only about 3% of households in its California territory, a share that reflects the rest of the nation. Yet the company is required to spend roughly $1 billion annually maintaining that legacy network. That billion dollars does not improve a single connection. It does not expand broadband to an underserved community. It is a regulatory mandate to preserve infrastructure that most customers have already left behind.
And the cost is not borne only by the few customers still using copper. The whole system pays. Capital that could be invested in fiber, wireless, broadband expansion, and network resiliency is instead diverted into repairing aging lines, replacing scarce or no-longer-manufactured parts, powering inefficient equipment, and maintaining facilities built for a different century.
The environmental toll compounds the economic waste. AT&T estimates that transitioning away from copper in California alone would save roughly 300 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually by 2030, enough to power approximately 28,000 homes for a year. The company has also cited nearly 2,000 copper-theft-related outages this year, a reminder that aging infrastructure is not just inefficient — it is a security liability.
Modern communications networks are not a luxury. They are core infrastructure. They determine whether small businesses can compete, whether students can access digital learning, whether patients can use remote health tools, whether first responders can communicate in emergencies, and whether America can keep pace with global competitors.
The Federal Communications Commission recognizes this reality. Its March rules are intended to help move communities from outdated copper lines to high-speed networks and free up investment for modern infrastructure. That is exactly the right direction.
But getting this right requires acknowledging a legitimate concern: Not every customer can simply flip a switch. Maintaining service for customers and businesses still using copper lines is important. Consumer advocates and public safety officials have raised these concerns in good faith, and they deserve serious commitments.
The answer is not to freeze the network in amber. It’s to retire the copper responsibly with clear advance notice, practical support, and modern alternatives that match or exceed the capabilities each customer relies on. In many cases, that’s fiber. In others, wireless or IP-based service. Verizon’s fixed wireless service is rapidly gaining ground on cable incumbents precisely because customers are choosing the services that modern wireless networks offer. The technology may vary, but the obligation should not. No customer need be stranded.
Providers should work with their regulators and customers to make sure transitions are orderly. Customers should know what is changing, when it is changing, and what they need to do. Specialized equipment should be identified and addressed before legacy facilities are retired.
But responsible transition is not the same as permanent delay. America cannot allow outdated rules to trap billions of dollars in obsolete infrastructure.
There is another irony: Copper itself is increasingly valuable in the modern economy. The metal embedded in old communications networks could be put to better use in power systems, electronics, advanced manufacturing, data centers, electric infrastructure, and other technologies that support economic growth.
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China is not pausing to debate the fate of its legacy networks. It is building infrastructure for the future. If America wants to compete, we must do the same. Old rules written for a copper age will not move us forward.
The path is clear: Modernize quickly, protect every customer carefully, and stop forcing the entire country to subsidize infrastructure that only a tiny fraction still uses. Retire the copper. America cannot afford to do otherwise.
Steve Forbes is the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media.