PSTN-to-IP transition

CenturyLink agrees with Verizon, AT&T to realign the copper retirement process

CenturyLink is joining the chorus of incumbent telecommunication companies that want the copper retirement and legacy service discontinuance process to be simplified to facilitate the build out and expansion of next-gen fiber and IP-based services.

In an Federal Communications Commission filing, CenturyLink has asked the regulator to streamline the Section 214 and copper retirement processes. “CenturyLink expressed wholehearted support for the Commission’s proposals to expedite and streamline the Section 214 and copper retirement processes,” Century wrote. “The migration to next-generation facilities and services is both natural and desirable. The Commission therefore should eliminate prior approval requirements where possible and streamline those that remain.”

Verizon seeks FCC permission to retire copper in 8 markets, emphasizes call to revise processes

Verizon has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to retire copper in eight Northeast markets (Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland and Delaware), marking another step in the company’s migration of its customer base to fiber-based technology. Verizon said if these are approved the switchover will take effect on or after February 28, 2018.

Trump’s FCC Will Let Big Telecom Destroy Small Houston ISPs As It Rebuilds After Harvey

As Texas starts to dry out from the damage of Hurricane Harvey, another perfect storm is forming. In a strange twist of timing, Big Telecom may walk away from the storm with an unfair advantage that could hurt smaller, local providers in Houston—and drive up costs for consumers in the process.

Across the country, Big Telecom has gradually been retiring old copper lines—used to delivery home phone as well as broadband—and replacing them with modern infrastructure, like fiber optic cables. When a natural disaster like Harvey wipes out the old wires, it's a good excuse for the provider to do a widespread upgrade. But because the Federla Communications Commission is currently rolling back regulations that require large ISPs—usually called the incumbent provider—to give access to infrastructure to small ISPs, these upgrades could leave smaller providers in the lurch.

The FCC’s Plan to Gut Tech Transitions Rules Is Bad for Consumers, Small Businesses and Competition

In April 2017, the Federal Communications Commission began a wireline infrastructure proceeding designed to accelerate broadband deployment. The proceeding contains multiple proposals to remove barriers to broadband deployment and infrastructure, such as reforming pole attachment rates and preempting state and local laws. Buried within these proposals is a plan to eliminate “tech transitions” rules, which outline the responsibilities of phone carriers when they choose to retire copper networks or discontinue service. The FCC is seeking to eliminate these rules by shortening the notice period for copper retirement and removing the requirement that carriers must consider what impact their network changes will have on other technologies. In other words, the FCC is now acting to enable carriers to quickly abandon copper services without considering the consequences for communities. But what is worse, rather repeal these rules directly, the FCC has decided to hide its intent behind a “technical” change in definition.

As we’ve seen from all of the groups that filed comments with the FCC, eliminating common-sense notification rules would impact consumers, small businesses, and competitive carriers, particularly the nation’s most vulnerable communities.

Will Rural Texas Ever Get Its Phone Service Back After Harvey?

[Commentary] Once the floodwaters recede and the reconstruction begins, when can residents see their phone service — and broadband service — return. For rural residents of Texas still dependent on traditional landlines, the answer to that may be “never.”

Why never? Back in 2011, Texas deregulated its telephone system. Of particular relevance here, Texas made it ridiculously easy for phone companies to get rid of their “carrier of last resort” (COLR) obligations — the obligation for the incumbent telephone network to provide service to everyone its service territory. As a result, phone companies in Texas do not have a state-based legal obligation to repair or replace service once it goes down. So in places where the telephone network has been damaged or destroyed by Harvey, AT&T (the primary legacy phone company in the impacted area) has no state responsibility to restore service.

[Harold Feld is Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge]

AT&T, Verizon say 90 days is enough for copper retirement notices

AT&T and Verizon, two of the nation’s largest telecommunication companies, are making their case again to the Federal Communications Commission to shorten the copper retirement notice from 180 to 90 days. The longer 180-day period was developed under former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in the regulator’s 2015 Technology Transitions Order.

As part of that order, the FCC proposed giving competitive carriers and businesses a six-month notice, while residential customers get three months’ notice before copper facilities are shut down. Under that order, AT&T, Verizon and other ILECs are required to provide notice to CLEC wholesale customers that use copper facilities to deliver voice and Ethernet over Copper (EoC) services to business customers. ILECs would also be given the option to retire copper networks and replace them with fiber without prior commission approval, but only if no service is discontinued, reduced, or impaired.

CenturyLink wants to shed 7 legacy analog, low-speed data services in 24 states

CenturyLink is seeking the Federal Communications Commission’s permission to shut down a number of low-speed data and analog services in 24 states located in its predecessor company CenturyTel’s territories, citing lack of demand. Specifically, the service provider wants to discontinue seven of its wholesale interstate analog and low-speed data services: Metallic, Telegraph, Narrowband, Wideband analog, Wideband Digital, Program Audio and Analog Video services.

CenturyLink, which offers these services through CenturyLink’s FCC’s Tariff numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, has requested to shut down these analog and low-speed data services by September 22, 2017. The service provider said in its FCC filing that “there are no customers for any of these low-speed analog services.” All of these services were used for applications that were part of a bygone era that have been replaced by more modern IP-based services.

Illinois OKs end of landlines, but FCC approval required

An AT&T-backed bill to end traditional landline phone service in Illinois is now the law of the land. Overriding Gov Bruce Rauner's (R-IL) veto, the General Assembly approved the telecom modernization bill on July 1, enabling AT&T to disconnect its remaining 1.2 million landline customers statewide, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission. But holdouts may have some time before AT&T pulls the plug for good on its legacy telephone service.

"It's important for our Illinois customers to know that traditional landline phone service from AT&T is not going away anytime soon," said Paul La Schiazza, AT&T Illinois president. With customers switching to internet-based and wireless phone services, AT&T has been pushing for legislation to allow it to unplug its aging landline network and focus on the modern alternatives. AT&T said it is losing about 5,000 landline customers statewide each week, with less than 10 percent of Illinois households in its territory still using the service. While AT&T ultimately needs approval from the FCC to abandon a long-standing obligation to maintain its "plain old telephone service," it has already gotten similar legislation passed in 19 of the 20 other states where it is the legacy telephone carrier, with California as the only holdout.

Verizon says de facto copper retirement concept inhibits fiber migration, creates uncertainty

Verizon has asked the Federal Communications Commission to get rid of the so-called de facto retirements from its copper retirement definition, arguing that it could create uncertainty in the process of shutting down legacy facilities. In the FCC’s 2015 Technology Transitions Order, the FCC defined “copper retirement” as the “removal or disabling of copper loops, subloops, or the feeder portion of such loops or subloops, or the replacement of such loops with fiber-to-the-home loops or fiber-to-the curb loops.” However, the company said that the current process might hold up the process of migrating what it calls “chronic” copper customers, or those that have had multiple service visits to resolve issues.

"The 'de facto' concept should be removed because it introduces significant uncertainty to the copper retirement process,” Verizon said in a FCC filing. “Among other practical problems, the vague de facto retirement concept could result in unmanageable loop-by-loop retirement requirements or complicate a provider’s ability to move customers to fiber when that is the best and most efficient way to resolve troubles they are experiencing with copper facilities.”

Britain’s broadband capital considers cutting off phone lines

The small city of Hull in northern England is planning to be one of the first places in Europe to consign its telephone lines to history. By the end of 2017, between 150,000 and 180,000 of Hull’s 210,000 buildings will be using the city’s super-fast fibre broadband network. That means it is time, according to Bill Halbert, the head of the local telecoms company KCOM, to start thinking about decommissioning the old copper telephone network. “Copper cannot handle the future,” said Halbert, who pointed out that most British households are now running seven to nine devices off their internet network and that fibre-optic cables are the only option. “It has to be fibre all the way. That’s one of the big national challenges for our economy.” If the city gets rid of its phone lines, it would follow in the footsteps of Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago, and the Channel island of Jersey. Palaiseau, outside Paris, is also planning to ditch the old wires in 2018.

AT&T-backed legislation to cut POTS lines limits affordable, reliable options, says AARP, Citizens Utility Board

AT&T-supported legislation in Illinois that would eliminate a requirement for the telco to offer landline voice service, or "plain old telephone service," has been met with opposition from the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and the AARP, igniting new debate on legacy services. Senate Bill 1381, which was passed 56-2 May 24, would abolish the state requirement that incumbent carrier AT&T offer traditional phone service. CUB said that the bill would set in motion a process that would eventually allow the company to send "cease to offer" notices to its 1.2 million business and residential landline customers in Illinois. Additionally, the legislation would increase phone rates for current customers by allowing AT&T to eliminate the low-cost "Consumer's Choice" local calling plans.