FCC told Verizon forces customers off copper

“This includes the significance of existing copper in incumbent and competitive networks that is relied upon to serve customers in combination with the existing and new fiber infrastructure built by all providers”. The agency would have to approve any changes that result in a reduction of services.

The FCC’s new rules would require service providers – like cable companies offering a bundled phone service – to offer customers the chance to buy a backup power reserve for their phone line.

Consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge applauded the FCC’s actions overall, but said the backup power requirements fall short. “Once they are on the fiber network, customers experience more robust service than they do on the legacy copper network”. The U.S. has about 85 million copper-based telephone lines still in operation, according to the FCC. Today’s vote prevents carriers from discontinuing these services when they shut off copper networks, requiring that “replacement services be offered to competitive providers at rates, terms and conditions that are reasonably comparable to those of the legacy services”, the FCC said. Business and consumer groups have complained to the FCC about special access rates charged by large telecom carriers for about a decade.

Carriers must initially provide an 8-hour backup option, with a second, 24-hour option, offered after three years. That provision wasn’t controversial during Thursday’s commission meeting, but the commission’s two Republican commissioners objected to the other requirements for carriers. But that is not the case for new fiber lines.

“Why is the FCC dead set on slowing [the transition] down?” he said. “The order tacks on three months to the copper retirement process, slowing down fiber deployments and tells companies to spend more money maintaining the copper plant even when fiber can cure any failures of that fading infrastructure”. “The FCC now requires carriers to seek permission before discontinuing nearly every network feature, no matter how little used or old fashioned”, he said.

Joining Wheeler in support of the new measure were commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, while commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O’Reilly dissented. “With the DTV transition, the government invested billions of dollars for consumer education campaigns that included radio, television, and newspaper notices and a subsidy for convertor boxes”.

Today’s vote should make it clear to carriers they if they want to shut off copper and install fiber, they should go for it-as long as they keep consumers informed, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said. “Changing technology is not a rationale for stifling service or competition”, he said. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross.