AT&T is retiring its copper-based landline network, and Denison is among the places where the old lines are going away. The company plans to retire most of that network before 2030 and is steering customers toward newer phone technology.
According to AT&T, fewer than 2% of its eligible customers still rely on traditional copper service. The company says the network has grown harder to support because the equipment is old, less reliable and prone to outages, which it blames largely on theft. AT&T says affected customers will be notified before their service ends, will be offered alternatives and can keep their current service until it is discontinued.
For Margret Smith, who has had a landline in Denison for more than 50 years, the change is personal. She told KTEN she does not go online, does not use a computer and does not text.
"All of those things are learnable, but it's sometimes frustrating for older people to learn that," Smith said.
She also relies on her home phone for prayer counseling. People call her when someone is sick, has died or is getting married, she said, and a call can stretch past an hour, sometimes up to 90 minutes, when the caller has just lost a loved one. Hearing a voice matters in those conversations, she said, because she can tell a person's mood and even hear them smile, something she said does not always come through in a text.
