AT&T has filed an application with the FCC seeking to discontinue some of its legacy wireline services including collect calling, person-to-person calling, busy line interruption and international directory assistance.
According to the filing, the carrier’s move to end the services comes as a result of steadily decreasing demand for operator services. AT&T said operator assistance traffic volumes have plummeted by 93 percent since 2004, and continue to drop at a rate of around 18 percent per year.
The carrier attributed the change to the rise of other communication and information procurement methods available through the use of mobile phones, text messaging, email and social media. AT&T said its operator services are now obsolete, and will not cause any harm to public convenience in their discontinuance.
If granted FCC approval, AT&T said it will discontinue the services in all of its territories throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
But AT&T isn’t the only operator seeking to end legacy wireline services.
Earlier this week, Verizon also sought to discontinue the postpaid calling card and personal 800 services offered by its subsidiary MCI Communications. Like AT&T, Verizon cited a drop in user demand for the services, thanks in part to the competitive pricing of prepaid calling cards and use of traditional 800 service.
Verizon said that revenue from MCI’s postpaid calling cards has dropped nearly 75 percent since 2012, while revenue from its personal 800 service has slumped by more than 65 percent in the same period.
The carrier said the presence of new technologies like Skype, FaceTime, VoIP calling and long distance mobile calling plans and applications will allow its customers a suitable number of alternatives should the FCC approve the service shutdown.