WAYNE, N.J. — The Federal Communication Commission followed up on a promise made to the communications sector earlier this year by announcing new unbundling rules that could spark increased rollout of broadband services in the U.S. while keeping voice service competition alive at the local level.
In a ruling issue Wednesday (Aug. 21), the FCC kept in place unbundling rules set out in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, thus forcing existing incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) to continue to open their traditional copper and fiber network equipment to outside carriers for the delivery of local voice services to customers. The ruling was hailed by AT&T and MCI, which will continue to offer local phones services to end users.
"The FCC's order promises lower voice service prices, more choices and better voice services for the nation's residential and small business customers," said Robert Quinn, vice president of federal regulatory affairs at AT&T.
While suffering a loss on the voice front, the ILECs gained a major victory on the high-speed data side. The FCC said in it ruling that ILECs no longer had to unbundle access to "greenfield fiber loops or to packet switching features," according to a rules posted on the FCC Web site.
By allowing the ILECs to maintain control of their broadband equipment, the FCC is hoping to encourage them to invest in deployment of DSL services. The FCC also hopes that the ruling will spark carriers to invest in fiber-to-the-home and fiber-to-the-curb deployments.
The FCC's attempt to change rules laid out in the Telecommunications Act is far from over. Analysts and industry watchers have said that the FCC rules will likely face court challenges.
