In one of the longest monthly open meetings in recent FCC history, Commissioners on Thursday vigorously disagreed on changes to wireline rules concerning copper retirement in order to speed fiber broadband deployment. Proponents say the changes will allow carriers to stop spending money on maintaining aging infrastructure so they can shift resources to new networks while opponents say the changes are too much and will hurt consumers.
Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, opposed relaxing the amount of notice providers must give customers that a service is being discontinued. The item, which passed 3-2, also expedites applications filed by carriers seeking to: (1) stop taking new customers for low-speed voice and data services; (2) discontinue previously “grandfathered” low-speed data services; and (3) discontinue low-speed services for which there are no customers.
Clyburn said “some of the most fundamental protections” the FCC has to protect legacy voice service “are moments away from being dumped into the trash” under the “majority’s carrier-first agenda.” Unlike the DTV transition, no outreach is planned to explain the retirement of copper with fiber to the 49 million households that still use copper landlines today, said Clyburn. “I have not heard from a single consumer who has asked for their landline to be taken away more quickly.”
Commissioner Brendan Carr said the changes would make it easier for providers to deploy broadband networks. “These actions will make a real difference, especially in rural areas.”
Chairman Ajit Pai agreed, adding: “Some who oppose this decision have engaged in fear mongering. This will make it economical to deploy fiber to millions of rural consumers.” FCC rules still require carriers to notify customers and the Commission when they want to discontinue a service, he said. That includes providing a replacement service that’s accessible to those with disabilities.
The other part of the same item was non-controversial. Commissioners agreed to update rules governing access to utility poles and conduits for the purposes of deploying broadband. They voted to reduce costs faced by broadband providers by barring pole owners from charging for costs already recovered from others and to institute a 180-day shot clock to resolve pole attachment disputes. They also voted to allow providers equal access to each other’s poles.
November 17, 2017
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