How much does a POTS line cost in 2025

Plain Old Telephone Service, aka POTS, is rapidly heading toward an inevitable sunset and monthly costs for old-fashioned copper wire phone lines are skyrocketing.

So exactly how much does a POTS line cost in 2025?

Turns out this is a much easier question to ask than answer. Government agencies at the federal and state level no longer report on the actual cost of POTS lines. Nor do any independent market research firms keep track.

There is, however, clear and compelling data on the "copper sunset" of Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) lines - another term for POTS.

As the chart above shows, PSTN lines in the United States have collapsed from 171 million in 2005 to 11.7 million in 2024 - a 93 percent drop.

This massive decline has trapped legacy carriers with the cost of maintaining POTS infrastructure - everything from phone poles to local central offices - with less and less revenue. As a result, they're looking to completely phase out POTS lines, while raising prices in the interim to cover their fixed costs and, in some cases, allowing reliability to slip.

AT&T, the largest U.S. provider of POTS lines, said in December 2024 that it wants to shut down virtually all its POTS lines by 2029 - saving $6 billion a year in operating expenses.

Yet POTS lines haven't completely disappeared yet. AT&T says five percent of its customers still have them, although they're silent on the monthly cost.

In the absence of hard data, here's our best estimate for POTS line costs.

How much does a home POTS line cost?

$40 to $70 a month is typical for copper-wire landline home phone service in 2025, based on our research and anecdotal evidence from our customers.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics maintains a monthly cost-of-living index for residential phone service. That index has gone up 48 percent from January 2015 to May 2025, exceeding the overall rate of inflation - 36 percent - in the same period.

We believe the relatively modest increase in home POTS cost compared to business lines is because some state regulations limit rate hikes and because carriers want to avoid antagonizing customers who might otherwise oppose their plans to shut down POTS.

How much does a business POTS line cost?

$80 a month or more is typical for copper-wire landline business phone service in 2025. In some cases, rates are now much, much higher. As noted by the publication Channel Futures, many businesses "have seen per/line prices rise to $1,000."

The image above is one example of the price increases that are hitting businesses. This customer's bill for business POTS lines, shared anonymously with Ooma, abruptly jumped in one month from $2,190.30 to $16,383.43 - a staggering 787 percent increase.

We believe these increases are a not-so-subtle attempt by legacy carriers to push their business customers off POTS entirely.

What's the alternative to POTS?

Almost all the 160 million POTS lines that disappeared in the last 20 years have been replaced by mobile phones or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) lines.

Residential VoIP is a great alternative for anyone still using a home POTS line, with much lower monthly rates.

Our favorite home phone service, no surprise, comes from Ooma. Basic service is free, with customers only paying applicable taxes and fees, typically $6 to $9 per month. Ooma Premier service for an additional $9.99 per month offers advanced features including robocall blocking, 911 call alerts by email, a free second phone number and a mobile app for making and receiving home phone calls on the go. Customers can also transfer their existing home phone number to Ooma for a one-time fee of $39.95.

The transition away from POTS is more nuanced for business.

Most business POTS lines can be replaced by VoIP services such as Ooma Office. As with home VoIP, the monthly rates are much lower and there are many advanced features.

However, there are situations where VoIP isn't appropriate for either reliability, regulatory or compatibility reasons, such as life safety devices - fire alarm panels, elevator emergency phones, etc. - or physical security - burglar alarms, door entry systems, industrial controls, etc.

That's where Ooma AirDial comes into the picture. AirDial is a turnkey POTS replacement solution that provides a wireless connection while avoiding the public internet, a key regulatory requirement, and is designed for compatibility with a wide range of legacy POTS devices.

In short, the bad news is that POTS lines simply cost too much in 2025. The good news is that alternatives are available now that are both significantly less expensive and significantly more powerful.