The FCC must continue to monitor interconnection during and after...
The FCC must continue to monitor interconnection during and after the IP transition, T-Mobile said in reply comments filed at the FCC on a Wireline Bureau notice refreshing the record on the commission’s copper retirement rules (CD Feb 27 p4).…
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“An overwhelming majority of parties, including all commenters representing the wireless industry, CLECs, state utilities regulators, public interest groups, and large users of IP services, as well as most cable commenters, agree that the IP transition will be hindered unless all providers of IP services are able to interconnect with one another on reasonable terms and that Commission oversight is necessary to ensure this,” T-Mobile said (http://bit.ly/WrgcXb). A trial or testbed as proposed by AT&T “may be a useful vehicle to test regulatory provisions that will be helpful to the IP transition” but only if it is “competitively neutral,” the carrier said. PCIA called on the FCC to modernize its rules. “PCIA agrees with the majority of commenters that the IP transition can be hastened if the Commission modernizes the regulatory environment for voice services in light of new technologies and market realities,” the group said (http://bit.ly/Yzzb3u). But PCIA said the commission should reject proposals to provide rural local exchange carriers with additional universal service support to facilitate their transition to an IP world. “Through 2017, these carriers will receive approximately $2 billion per year in high-cost universal service support,” PCIA said. “This existing support, coupled with the fact that these carriers are already investing in IP-based services and the market reality that consumers are increasingly relying on wireless and broadband services to meet their needs, begs the question as to why rural carriers now require additional support to do what they are already doing for fewer customers."