Copper Phone Line Retirement: What NJ Restaurants and Hospitality Businesses Should Know

Verizon has notified the FCC that it plans to retire its copper network across 62 New Jersey wire centers as early as December 10, 2026. Once copper is retired in an area, traditional landlines (often called POTS lines) will no longer be supported there, and services running on them will need to move to newer technology such as fiber, VoIP, or wireless.

For restaurants, hotels, and venues, the impact usually goes beyond the main phone number. Copper lines often support fire alarm and sprinkler monitoring, security systems, elevator emergency phones, guest room phones, payment terminals, and fax lines used for orders. Many of these are tied to safety codes and inspections, and some newer replacements don’t work during a power outage without battery backup, so it’s important to plan the transition rather than wait for a service notice.

A good first step is to take inventory: list every phone line on your bill, identify what each one connects to, and check whether your location falls within an affected area.

Members with questions about their own lines or replacement options can contact DMS Tech Advisors, a carrier-neutral telecom advisor in North Jersey, for a free, no-obligation review.

Source: Verizon New Jersey, Public Notice of Copper Retirement (ID 2026-03-A-NJ), September 8, 2026: https://www.verizon.com/about/sites/default/files/verizon-new-jersey-copper-retirement-notice-2026-0908.pdf

For a free review of your current phone lines and replacement options, contact Jesse Cole at DMS Tech Advisors at (973) 590-4812 or jcole@dms2.com 

DMS Tech Advisors is a NJRHA vendor member.