PHONE LINES GOING AWAY!!!
Released On: 2/11/2010 11:12:25 AM
LINK TO ARTICLE:
http://hdvoice.tmcnet.com/topics/unified-communications/articles/71839-att-calls-firm-date-sunset-pstn.htm
TITLE:AT&T Calls for Firm Date to Sunset the PSTNRemember the process
leading up to the decommissioning of the analog U.S. TV broadcasting
air interface and a clear transition to high-definition broadcasting?AT&T ( News - Alert)
now has asked the Federal Communications Commission to create an
orderly timetable along those general lines for a shutdown of the
analog phone system in the United States. AT&T's argument is that
investing in two separate networks, the “dying” public switched
telephone network and the coming IP network, is retarding the
deployment of the new network.
AT&T also has asked for resolution of a number of
long-standing regulatory policies governing universal service,
inter-carrier compensation, carrier of last resort and related rules
that, although a staple of the analog telephone business, are seen by
AT&T and others to be inhibiting investment in the new broadband
networks that are the future of the entire wired communications
business.
“Congress’s goal of universal access to broadband will not be met
in a timely or efficient manner if providers are forced to continue to
invest in and to maintain two networks,” AT&T officials said. “Any
such forward-looking policy must enable a shift in investment from the
legacy PSTN to newly deployed broadband infrastructure.”
With an outdated product, falling revenues, and rising costs, the
POTS business is unsustainable for the long run,” AT&T officials
said. “Yet a web of federal and state regulations has the cumulative
effect of prolonging, unnecessarily, the life of POTS and the PSTN.”
And as you might guess, AT&T says outdated government regulations
are stifling investment in the coming new network.
“One of the most important steps the Commission can take to
facilitate an orderly transition to an all-broadband communications
infrastructure is to eliminate the regulatory requirements that prolong
the life of POTS and the PSTN,” AT&T reported in its filing.
“Perhaps the single most important feature of Commission action at
this time is the establishment of a firm deadline at which point the
transition will be complete,” AT&T officials said.
The statement is less radical than might first appear. Every
executive in the global telecommunications business realizes that all
communication networks are in a process of shifting to multi-purpose IP
networks. The only real issue is the transition. Perhaps the novelty
here is simply that this is the first time AT&T has called for
setting a firm deadline for sun setting the PSTN.
The current inter-carrier compensation regime--with all the
arbitrage and inefficiencies associated with that regime--should be
replaced with the unregulated IP-based model that currently
characterizes the exchange of Internet traffic, AT&T argues. As
part of the transition, universal rules must be revamped, as something
most service providers, analysts and attorneys believe is inevitable or
necessary.
But AT&T also says many other outstanding major regulatory
issues also must be resolved in ways that are conducive to new
investment and are competitively neutral.
Gary Kim (News - Alert) is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Gary’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Kelly McGuire
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