Steve Hilton asks Trump’s FCC to stand down in California landline dispute
Republican Steve Hilton has found rare common ground with Democrats in an unlikely arena: landline phone service.
The GOP candidate for governor is urging the federal government to stay out of California’s push to prevent AT&T from ending landline service via copper wiring to around 184,000 residential customers and 15,000 business customers.
The debate stems over a Federal Communications Commission action on June 29 that advanced the company’s plans, over the objection of California regulators, many residents and Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta.
In a letter to FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Monday, Hilton said he too opposes the move, which he claims was driven by “Washington bureaucrats.” The former Fox News host, who faces an uphill campaign against Democrat Xavier Becerra in a deep blue state, argues the change would jeopardize service used by rural Californians.
And while Hilton has regularly taken aim at California regulations he argues stifle the state’s economy, he said the state is “more than capable of deciding whether our own residents still need landlines as a public-safety backstop.”
But the former Fox News host stopped short of blaming Carr, whom Democrats and media watchdogs accuse of weaponizing the agency on behalf of President Donald Trump. Last year, Carr pressured the Walt Disney Company to cancel Jimmy Kimmel’s show after the comic joked about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Trump endorsed Hilton in April, helping him advance to the November general election.
“I understand you may not have been personally involved in this particular decision,” Hilton wrote to Carr. “But as Chairman of the FCC, you have the authority and responsibility to correct it.”
AT&T sought FCC permission to override state regulators’ 2024 decision that blocked the telecommunication’s company from taking that step. It argues it is only ending service where it provides robust wireless coverage and that no customer will lose voice or 911 service. In a statement, an AT&T spokesperson said modern alternatives to copper hold up better during disasters and said landline service wouldn’t be discontinued until at least June 1, 2027.
The spokesperson declined to comment on Hilton’s letter. The FCC and Becerra’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FCC received several hundred comments over the proposed override of the California Public Utilities Commission. Many came from rural residents worried about a loss of connection to the outside world during storms and disasters.
“I maintain my copper landline for one primary reason: emergency communication,” wrote one critic. “While I also have internet and cellular service, living in the Santa Cruz Mountains means that cell coverage is often unreliable.”
The FCC decision took effect by default, but it doesn’t mark the end of a multiyear fight. AT&T sued the California Public Utilities Commission in May, arguing that “California requires AT&T to spend $1 billion each year to maintain a century-old telephone network that almost no one uses.”
