Is Your Community Bank Ready for Copper Landline Discontinuation?

Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave community banks and other businesses a wake-up call. The March 2026 Network and Services Modernization Order called for, among other things, the elimination of the multi-month pre-filing review hurdles for telecom carriers that are seeking to discontinue copper landlines.

Copper landlines have been the backbone of banks’ legacy systems, connecting and powering fax lines, burglar and fire alarms, life safety alarms, elevator phones, security cameras and ATMs.

That’s been changing for years as copper’s gotten expensive, and fiber and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology have steadily improved. 

“The fiber and VoIP technology has been good enough for a while that it has been the better option,” says Cal Roberson, vice president of the financial institutions division at Integris, a managed AI and IT services company.

Legend Bank in Bowie, Texas, is one of many banks that have migrated from copper landlines. 

“It was primarily part of a broader technology modernization effort focused on improving communications capabilities and reducing recurring telecommunications costs,” says Jeff Slade, senior vice president and IT director of the $1.2 billion-asset community bank.

Why some community banks still depend on copper landlines (and might not realize it)

That hasn’t been the case for all banks, however. Timor Brik, chief operations officer for DataRemote, which specializes in enterprise-grade LTE routers and IP appliances that directly replace wireline POTS (plain old telephone service) lines, has observed that more established banks in older buildings or banks in rural locations might still rely on copper landlines.

“We’re finding that many IT staff or auditors don’t have this on their radar, even though this copper sunset has been going on for a decade,” he says. “It’s not such a big deal in a brand-new building, because those buildings are usually all digital.”

Even banks that have moved most of their infrastructure away from landlines might have overlooked a few legacy connections. “The most important thing is that banks need to get ahead of what they have at their locations that use copper,” Brik says.

Copper line retirement checklist for banks

If a community bank still has copper landlines, Roberson suggests a four-step decision-making process:

1. Identify where copper connections are still being used
2. Assess the risk if the copper connection were to be discontinued
3. Decide if you’ll adopt a new technology
4. Test and implement the solution

Put alarm panels at the top of your checklist. “Alarm panels are very much impacted,” says Jacob Hengel, chief technology officer for YourSix, a cloud-based physical security provider. “Banks need to update their panels and add a cellular communicator of sorts to get rid of landlines.”

Hengel says newer security systems that incorporate monitoring-focused video surveillance have the advantage of providing much more detailed information than traditional alarm systems. Copper-powered alarms just provide a signal that “something’s” off—but not what that something is. 

“It’s not accurate or detailed enough, and resources are thin at the government level,” Hengel says. “A lot of cities won’t dispatch law enforcement without visual verification, either someone on site or remote video verification.”

VoIP power backup requirements for banks: Plan for power, not just connectivity

Power—how much you need and how you’re getting it—is another critical item on your checklist. Hengel says businesses often “under spec” how much power is needed. Older alarm panels had a dedicated physical battery as part of the design, which automatically took into consideration how much power the panel required.

In contrast, UPS (uninterrupted power supply) devices are self-contained appliances and might be working harder than you realize. 

“The UPS unit is powering more sophisticated equipment and uses more power,” Hengel says. “Make sure your UPS is large enough to power the equipment.”

Telephone systems present a similar problem. Telephone companies supply power through the copper line, but when you switch to VoIP, it’s on you to supply power to the computer equipment and the building for phones to continue to work.

Roberson has advised banks to equip a certain number of workstations at each location with backup power. 

“In the event there’s a power outage or a disaster, people can still make phone calls,” he says. “Granted, people have cell phones, but if it’s a natural disaster and the cell phone towers are out, typically the VoIP lines are still active, because most of those are underground.”

Brik adds that banks should keep the power sources for non-critical and emergency systems separate. “In a fire, you wouldn’t want the ATM to be using power and signal from one power source if there is a fire alarm connected to it, too,” he says.

Fiber internet: A future-proof upgrade beyond copper

It may be a transition, but experts believe fiber connectivity is a vast improvement over copper landlines. “Fiber travels tremendously faster and will give banks access to more reliable and faster internet,” Hengel says.

Now’s the time to ensure your community bank doesn’t have a spaghetti of wires collecting dust in some forgotten closet. The payoff will be reduced cost and improved service.

“This transition reflects a broader best practice in technology planning,” Slade says. “Community banks that take a proactive approach to modernizing infrastructure are generally better positioned to adapt as telecommunications providers and technologies evolve.”

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