FCC Accelerating Rollout of Modern, High-Speed Networks

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the FCC will vote  on rules that will get communities off of old and slow copper lines and onto new, high-speed networks. These rules, if adopted by the full Commission at the March 26 Open Meeting, will allow providers to retire their decades-old and increasingly expensive copper line networks, freeing up tens of billions of dollars annually for the roll out of upgraded, high-speed networks to more Americans, all while making sure that consumers remain connected to the public safety and other communications they need at home. The rules, if adopted, would:

• Eliminate the filing requirements associated with FCC rules implementing section 251(c)(5)’s network change disclosure mandate;
• Overhaul and streamline rules applicable to technology transitions discontinuance applications under section 214;
• Grant blanket section 214(a) authority for carriers to grandfather legacy voice services, lower-speed data telecommunications services, and interconnected Voice over IP (VoIP) service provisioned over copper wire; and,
• Eliminate other rule provisions rendered irrelevant