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Displacement of copper with fiber in the access networks: New copper pair bonding approaches are making it possible to deliver 40 mgs over existing copper, with 100 mgs on the horizon. This technology coupled with fairly-priced access to the copper network is fundamental to the COMPTEL membership’s ability to compete. Yet, COMPTEL members have no guarantees that the copper network will remain in place. The copper networks can be disconnected by the LECs with virtually no regulatory review, whenever and wherever they choose to replace the copper access network with a fiber-based access technology.
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Nevertheless, the vendors offering
advanced or enhanced services were
seeing some strong, new interest
in their products. |
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- Working with the LECs to find a viable way forward. Hank Hultquist of AT&T participated on a panel examining Interconnect issues, commenting that “Simple interconnection policies will need to be the way forward with fully converged networks.” Remi Communications’ Dave Mulfara agreed that he was looking to the FCC for regulations that “ensured people play fair.” Lots of ground yet to be covered
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Given these threats to their commercial viability, it is not surprising that COMPTEL and its membership are rallying to:
- Point out to the FCC and to Congress how dismally behind the rest of the world the US telecommunications infrastructure really is.
- Countries like Estonia have a far greater percentage of population penetration of broadband than does the U.S., let alone countries we are used to hearing about, like Korea and Japan. Very high levels of deployment in those countries has enabled successful commercial use of applications like remote Education and Health Care that are possible only with high speed networks available virtually everywhere.
- Drawing the link between the rules imposed by the Regulators in those countries to those in place in the U.S.: competitive access to fiber-based networks has not caused the collapse of the incumbents as has been the threat here. Rather the opposite is argued: the incumbents and the competitors are each benefiting, as are their customers, and the economic development of their countries.
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before any kind of agreement is reached, but with frequent and open communications like this, supported by informed regulation, we may get to a logical place.
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Ask the FCC and their Congress members to establish rules of oversight regarding the displacement of copper access networks. In addition to an essential enabler for COMPTEL members survival, there are several factors to be considered with regard to the public good as well that are being overlooked (for example, that the copper network is fully powered, while the fiber network is not, leaving consumers with critical need to consider emergency power requirements.)
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Ask the FCC to stop undermining the Telecom Act and establish an expert dispute resolution process that would be the front end to rapidly assess and resolve disputes and ensure accurate enforcement of the rules.
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