Keeping current service in light of upcoming fiber deployment

[gu]

It appears that 10 gb fiber is rolling out soon in my neighborhood. My mother-and-father-in-law - also Sonic customers - live on the same street and they, too, are set to be part of the new fiber footprint.

They currently have the old school, copper-based Fusion X1 with home phone (last speed test was under 4 mbps, btw) and mom is the only one who actually uses the connection (dad is in his 80s and has never had an email address or cell phone and, unfortunately now fallen prey to the scourge of dementia). Mom's online activities consist mostly of email, Facebook, web searches, bill pay, etc.; no streaming or high-bandwidth usage whatsoever apart from whatever cat video Facebook might serve up to her.

My question is, will the upgrade to fiber be mandatory for Sonic customers who, like my MIL, are currently on another service level? In her case it seems like severe overkill, particularly given her limited usage and because I know they have no plans to give up their landline. In fact, my wife and I would prefer that they keep a copper-based landline, if possible, given the state of their collective health as well as the recent natural disasters we've had in the area. We want them to be reachable and also want them to be able to reach emergency services should the power go down for an extended period and we are not available.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!
-g-

[dane]

Yes, the migration is automatically scheduled. Pricing for the faster, more reliable new fiber service would be the same as the current copper-based service.

The incumbent telecom carriers got all of the deregulatory wishes granted while Chairman Pai was running the FCC, despite our efforts and many comments filed by Sonic members. Our access to copper is currently in a "grandfathered" state as a result of Trump-era FCC deregulation, with annual price increases set by the FCC, and then a sunset date about two years out after which it could either be disconnected or (more likely) just get even more costly.

That being said, if you want to stay on the copper service, that's possible, but there is a new cost for this. Because of the fees involved in leasing the copper loop after building a whole new fiber network that replaces it, customers who choose to instead retain the old rented copper service will become subject to a $20/mo legacy technology surcharge. This covers the cost of the rented copper loop from AT&T and keeping in place the old DSL/POTS equipment. This is in addition to the annual cost increases from AT&T.

Given all of that, I'd suggest instead, migrating to fiber and for the reliability of both the voice and WiFi service during a local power outage, investing a bit in a good battery backup UPS unit to support both the optical terminal, the WiFi router, and any cordless phone base station unit that you might be using there.

FYI with fiber, unlike cable, virtually all sites are supported by central office battery and diesel generator power. So the fiber landline connection should function during a power outage of any duration. The only limitation would be on-site power at the home, so a UPS is suggested. If you are in a location that frequently experiences longer power outages, particularly with the new "public safety power shutoff" regime these days, a generator for key devices such as the UPS, the refrigerator/freezer etc can be a good idea.