On August 7, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) transitions from legacy copper-based networks to networks consisting of emerging, all IP- technologies. In January 2014 the Technology Transitions Order, the FCC emphasized the importance of speeding market-driven technological transitions and innovations while preserving the core statutory values as codified by Congress: competition, consumer protection, universal service, and public safety. In regards to this meeting, the goal is taking the next step in advancing the long-standing competition and consumer protection policies on a technologically …show more content…
Incumbent carriers compete with competitive carriers to provide communications services to businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, government entities, and other organization of all shapes and sizes.
The pace of copper retirement has accelerated over the last few years and that this rapid pace of retirements, combined with the deterioration of copper networks that have not been formally retired, has necessitated changes to ensure that the new governing copper retirement promotes competition, which, will in, turn serve the public interest. This will be the commission first time in over a decade updating the copper retirement rules. In 2003 when the commission was dealing with this issue at that point the fiber to the home deployment was in its …show more content…
The sale of copper facilities could be a win-win proposition that permits incumbent LECs to manage their networks as they see fit while ensuring that copper remains available as a vehicle for competition. With serval LECs such as AT&T and Cincinnati Bell willing to consider selling copper facilities that they intent to retire. The FCC defines" copper retirement" to include not "retirement of copper loops or copper sub loops, and the replacement of such loops with fiber-to-the-home loops or fiber-to-the-curb loops", but also the feeder potion of loop. Also, the FCC defines "retirement" as "the removal or disabling of covered copper facilities, i.e., copper loops, sub-loops, or the feeder portion of such loops or sub loops". While the term "disabling" as "rendering the copper facilities inoperable (through acts of commission or omission)" and "removal" as "physical