Copper retirement NPRM sparks heated debate

• Published in: Telecommunications Reports Vol. 81; no. 4; p. 38
• Format: Newsletter Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Aspen Publishers, Inc 15.02.2015
• Subjects: Competition; Consumer protection; Consumerism; Consumers; Copper; Councils; Customer services; Incumbency; Interest groups; Laws, regulations and rules; Modernization; Proposals; Public interest; Public safety; Regulatory agencies; Retirement; TCP/IP (Network protocols); Telecommunications industry; Wireless networks; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0163-9854

Windstream, which has a pending petition on this subject, proposed "six specific rules for replacement wholesale services: (1) Price per Mbps for services at or below 50 Mbps shall not increase; (2) A provider's wholesale rates shall not exceed its retail rates; (3) Basic service pricing shall not increase; (4) Bandwidth options shall not be reduced as compared to those available to the ILEC's retail business customers; (5) No backdoor price increases through charges for network-to-network interface or other rate elements, lock-up provisions, early termination fees ('ETFs'), special construction, or otherwise; (6) No impairment of service quality or delivery as compared, respectively, to TDM services today and to the incumbent's own operations." The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates supported the NPRM's proposals on backup power, consumer notice, and continued wholesale access as being "consistent with consumers' interests." However, NASUCA also said that "copper retirement is not inevitable, as implied in the NPRM," because there are high-cost areas where there is no business case for deploying fiber, "and wireless - including fixed wireless - is not an adequate replacement for copper-based landline service." NASUCA supported the NPRM's proposal for sale of the copper networks that are retired. It argued, however, that incumbent telcos should receive "no more than net book value" for the facilities sold. "Given the myriad issues surrounding these copper retirements, the retirements should not be a profit center for the incumbents," NASUCA said. Several individuals submitted nearly identical letters stating that "[t]o be considered an 'adequate substitute,' a new service must be as affordable and reliable as the basic telephone service provided in that area" and adding that "[t]he new service must function for two weeks during power outages." Among those offering this view were Michael Nicholls of Cazadero, Calif.; environmental engineer David Goff of Downington, Pa.; Karen Fasimpaur, a resident of Portal, Ariz., and president of K12 Handhelds, Inc.; Ivan Villafane of Westfield, N.J.; Sue Wilson of Fiddletown, Calif.; and Trish Steel of Laytonsville, Calif.