FCC Sets Guidelines For the Death of DSL, Copper The evolution from DSL and copper networks to fiber and wireless (especially 5G) is in some ways an inevitability, and may in some areas provide dramatic benefits to consumers. But we've long noted how some telcos are taking advantage of the idea to gut consumer protections and ignore upgrade obligations for networks they received billions in subsidies to build, driving these unwanted DSL customers to wireless service that may have them paying more money than ever before for broadband service.

We've discussed at length how AT&T's "IP transition" is being framed as some sort of evolutionary transition toward a "glorious all-IP future," but is really largely about AT&T gutting regulations in order to hang up on POTS (plain old telephone) and DSL users they simply don't want to upgrade The name of the game is terminating these unwanted users and pushing them toward significantly more profitable (read: capped and metered) LTE wireless service. Whether this means higher prices for consumers -- or the inability for competing CLECs to access last mile connections -- isn't of much concern to incumbents. To make this dream a reality, AT&T and Verizon have been going state by state, trying to convince local governments that if they kill off regulations requiring they keep providing POTS and DSL, those communities will somehow enter telecom infrastructure investment Utopia, where they're suddenly awash in improved technology, networks and opportunity. AT&T's even gone so far as to pay a slew of people (like Steve Forbes and Rick Boucher) to pen editorials circulating in national newspapers claiming again that if we allow AT&T to kill off DSL and POTS lines, we'll enter some type of golden era of telecom investment. Verizon similarly has used natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy as an opportunity to hang up on DSL -- then telling users that expensive wireless is "good enough." The problem with these transitions is that AT&T and Verizon are going to leave these markets with less fixed-line broadband competition than ever before. As a result, potentially tens of millions of DSL users will ultimately face the choice of either very expensive wireless (over which Netflix streaming is impractical), or a cable operator emboldened by a now total lack of any price competition whatsoever (making prices higher and support worse than ever before). Assuming they can get a wireless signal in the home, or even have access to a cable competitor. The "IP transition" requires serious public discussion, and it's possibly the most important shift in telecom in thirty years. As such, the FCC a few years ago voted to approved a few trials that took a closer look at how the telcos' retirement of outdated legacy networks would actually impact consumers and businesses. And yesterday the FCC also voted on rules (pdf) that streamline the telco ability to request the retirement of copper assets, provided they provide some kind of equivalent (wired or wireless), ensure 911 services still work, and ensure they're not dramatically harming legacy services like alarm systems that rely on older DSL or POTS technology.

The rules try to provide some guidance for the death of copper, though it's likely you may still find yourself in a position where your inexpensive DSL line is simply replaced with significantly more expensive wireless broadband. Still, groups like Public Knowledge applauded the FCC's new policy plan. "Today’s FCC Order does more than protect the tens of millions of businesses and local governments, the thousands of public safety systems, and the more than 50 million Americans still using the legacy copper phone network," Public Knowledge Senior VP Harold Feld said. "Today’s action ensures that as telephone companies spend billions of dollars to upgrade our national communications network, it will genuinely be an upgrade for all Americans, not an upgrade for some and a downgrade for others." AT&T and Verizon have long believed that 5G can be a simple replacement for DSL, and most early implementations of 5G (when it drops 2020 or later) will be "fixed" (an antenna affixed to your home). But with a lack of competition in these markets it's still likely that users that enjoyed unlimited, relatively inexpensive DSL will have those options stripped and replaced, either by more expensive wireless, or a cable provider that's, again, facing less competitive incentive than ever to compete on service price or quality. So while the FCC's rules do help provide some guide rails for the "IP transition," protecting consumers from high prices (or frankly even acknowledging that high prices exist) hasn't historically been the FCC's forte. Those interested can find the FCC's full transition order Those interested can find the FCC's full transition order here (pdf).







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Most recommended from 104 comments



cabana

Department of Adjustments

Mod

join:2000-07-07

New York, NY 2 edits 34 recommendations cabana Mod Its not the demise



It is the absolute "business" of it all. Warm fuzzy ads about communication and living a better life if you have xyz service ... "we care about you" shoveled in mounds of you know what.



When at the end of the day you have to mostly take what you can get.



I have ONE option ... a certain cable company. And my cable literally HANGS off the side of a building and is snaked into my AC unit into my house. Yep 2016 and thats their idea of a beautiful install.



If it rains I don't get certain "channels". (can't make this stuff up) ... old fashioned bunny ears gave me better service.



Too many people on the pipeline at night ... forgettaboutit trying to get fast internet despite optimizing my line! Yet there has been a Verzion FIOS truck PARKED for the last two years off and on SELLING the idea that our street is going to be one of those state of the art streets ... but its still "COMING SOON" ... TWO YEARS!



In the meantime side walking NYC LINKS kiosks are sprouting up on every street corner like weeds growing from cracks in concrete.



From the "rocking chairs" you hear about the infamous bust up of the bells ... just a distant memory.



YES ... the technology rocks ... but its doled out based on what's good for business ... NOT what's good for the enduser. IMO ... its pure dumb luck when it works out that its good for business and the enduser's pocket at the same time.



And try to get along without it?! Add insult to injury we are monetized in every way possible ... with little say in the matter.



While SOME ISPs ... (not all ... the smaller ISPs that work so hard to be the voice of competition ... huge kudos)



But mostly it seems:



Tax breaks galore (check)

Profit shuttled offshore (check)

Little support for old infrastructure (check)

Little say in pricing or offerings (check)

Good people working in the ISP industry overworked and underpaid (check)

"Deal with it mentality" if the service sucks (check)

Grow at all costs but support at little cost (check)



Yep ... sounds like the ISP market is driven to produce quality by supply and demand and I am a valued and protected customer



But I do remain hopeful. At some point ... we as consumers have to insist that we get something for our dollar and I think more and more people are doing just that ... Social Media can be used for GOOD ... not just posting what you ate for dinner



Edit: added my point of praise for ISPs that I meant to add and forgot earlier It's not the demise of POTS that bothers me so much ... I accepted it 5 years ago when Verizon refused to fix my line after a basement flood... claiming they were "out of parts"It is the absolute "business" of it all. Warm fuzzy ads about communication and living a better life if you have xyz service ... "we care about you" shoveled in mounds of you know what.When at the end of the day you have to mostly take what you can get.I have ONE option ... a certain cable company. And my cable literally HANGS off the side of a building and is snaked into my AC unit into my house. Yep 2016 and thats their idea of a beautiful install.If it rains I don't get certain "channels". (can't make this stuff up) ... old fashioned bunny ears gave me better service.Too many people on the pipeline at night ... forgettaboutit trying to get fast internet despite optimizing my line! Yet there has been a Verzion FIOS truck PARKED for the last two years off and on SELLING the idea that our street is going to be one of those state of the art streets ... but its still "COMING SOON" ... TWO YEARS!In the meantime side walking NYC LINKS kiosks are sprouting up on every street corner like weeds growing from cracks in concrete.From the "rocking chairs" you hear about the infamous bust up of the bells ... just a distant memory.YES ... the technology rocks ... but its doled out based on what's good for business ... NOT what's good for the enduser. IMO ... its pure dumb luck when it works out that its good for business and the enduser's pocket at the same time.And try to get along without it?! Add insult to injury we are monetized in every way possible ... with little say in the matter.While SOME ISPs ... (not all ... the smaller ISPs that work so hard to be the voice of competition ... huge kudos)But mostly it seems:Tax breaks galore (check)Profit shuttled offshore (check)Little support for old infrastructure (check)Little say in pricing or offerings (check)Good people working in the ISP industry overworked and underpaid (check)"Deal with it mentality" if the service sucks (check)Grow at all costs but support at little cost (check)Yep ... sounds like the ISP market is driven to produce quality by supply and demand and I am a valued and protected customerBut I do remain hopeful. At some point ... we as consumers have to insist that we get something for our dollar and I think more and more people are doing just that ... Social Media can be used for GOOD ... not just posting what you ate for dinnerEdit: added my point of praise for ISPs that I meant to add and forgot earlier

TIGERON

join:2008-03-11

Boston, MA Motorola MG7550

2 edits 21 recommendations TIGERON Member CenturyLink and Frontier will inherent all AT&T and Verizon wireline



»stopthecap.com/2013/07/0 ··· by-2020/

»stopthecap.com/2015/12/0 ··· etworks/

»stopthecap.com/2015/05/0 ··· 0-years/

»CenturyLink Might Buy Verizon, AT&T Assets [42] comments



I have read many forums and people hate copper DSL but you all seem to forget that g.fast and XG.fast are coming. The CEOs of CenturyLink and Frontier have stated that copper speeds can be improved by replacing legacy hardware with new state-of-the-art equipment. The companies are already laying down middle mile fiber in key areas they serve and using the copper to deliver the last mile to customers as VDSL.



In the meantime, it is absolutely insane to rely solely on wireless. Wireless is NOT and will never be a substitute for fixed wireline. Get used to it. By 2020 ALL of the unwanted copper from AT&T and Verizon will be sold off to these two smaller CTL and FTR but growing telecoms.I have read many forums and people hate copper DSL but you all seem to forget that g.fast and XG.fast are coming. The CEOs of CenturyLink and Frontier have stated that copper speeds can be improved by replacing legacy hardware with new state-of-the-art equipment. The companies are already laying down middle mile fiber in key areas they serve and using the copper to deliver the last mile to customers as VDSL.In the meantime, it is absolutely insane to rely solely on wireless. Wireless is NOT and will never be a substitute for fixed wireline.

quetwo

That VoIP Guy

Premium Member

join:2004-09-04

East Lansing, MI 21 recommendations quetwo Premium Member It's not been fun... About a year ago, AT&T decided to hang up the DSL service for my in-laws. They do live out in the sticks, but at least they got 5MB DSL service. When they got the note saying they were being upgraded to U-Verse, they weren't happy about the price increase, but they were OK with it. A week later the installer came out and told them U-Verse wasn't available in their area, and they were out of luck. Their only option available was going back to dial-up, since all of the DSL services were being disconnected. This happened to most of the people in their town, outside the core few blocks 'downtown'.



At work we've also had issues with this as well. We are in the process of building a new building -- and in order to get the occupancy permit so we can take possession, we need a few analog POTS lines for the elevators. AT&T is refusing to provide copper to the building (and blocking all the CLECs from providing copper to the building), and they won't install any other services until we have a securable IT room, with power, rack space, etc. Ultimately we will have our own PBX in the building feed of another provider, but either way we can't even get that far. The only alternative they've offered was an LTE phone device -- but service within the building is pretty poor, and power isn't exactly stable for the building yet since it is still being built out.



We've got a meeting with our local Public Utilities Commission later this month, but with the ways that AT&T has had their lobbyists write the laws, I know we are pretty much screwed.

buzz_4_20

join:2003-09-20

Biddeford, ME (Software) Sophos UTM Home Edition

Ruckus R310

15 recommendations buzz_4_20 Member Advances Fixed LTE/5G. isn't the same as a HARD LINE to your home.

With all the subsidies, fees, tax breaks and special treatment, the telco's could've run fiber to every house in the county a few times over.



Seems that nowadays if an investment won't payoff before the ink on the check is dry, it's not going to get done. tkdslr

join:2004-04-24

Pompano Beach, FL 13 recommendations tkdslr Member sigh, I used up my 5GB LTE quota for the month today.. with 10 days left before renewal. Now, I'm stuck on 64Kbit/sec throttled connection. A number of things no longer work, slashdot.org, Google voice, a number of banking/credit card websites very slow/forget it, so much damn webpage bloat, it's not even funny.



I really wonder how those people stuck on dial up or in the boonies survive? Joe12345678

join:2003-07-22

Des Plaines, IL 12 recommendations Joe12345678 Member ban the forced hardware rent and force them to give you a battry ban the forced hardware rent and force them to give you a battery for free should be part of the base rules. IanLee

join:2014-11-24

Woodland, WA 11 recommendations IanLee Member Our nation is f***ed I don't think I have ever been as furious over an issue like this one for a very long time.



I have absolutely no option than to go with TDS 3 MBPS, for $80. As expensive as it is, I never would of felt the need to make a profile on here if I had gotten reliable service. But when it turned out my area had been oversold to the point of dialup speeds, I had little choice than to sign up, doing my best to figure out just how Net Neutrality and the modern political situation were so intertwined with each other.



This articles ensures that our economy will remain stagnant, while America itself is heading into a fascist state. Other countries like the UK and South Korea have made good use of DSL, in fact they offer some of the best DSL service in the world. Dozens of providers and choices which will probably never happen here. With only one real choice, ISPs are free to abuse their customers left and right.



I feel the FCCs efforts have come too late, too rushed. Should my area be completely void of any DSL, I have no choice than to move. This will mean for others selling off their $250,000 - $750,000 houses in the country, which in this day and age of real estate is not going to be easy. Fixed wireless is the only possible option for these areas, but don't think you'll be spending $50 a month for it. They want you to spend well over a hundred dollars for it, which is absolutely insane given its unreliability compared to DSL or cable hooked directly by Ethernet wire.



When that happens, kiss your Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and PlayStation 4 options goodbye. The corporate fat cats want us to be stuck in the past.



It never should have gotten to this point. It makes me sick how low these companies have gone to these last few years. margegenever

join:2010-08-19

USA 9 recommendations margegenever Member Bring back regulation Tired of paying $80 per month for basic copper phone service, I decided to look at ATT's wireless home phone, advertised for $20 per month, only to find out that is does not work with standard home copper wiring. How poor is that? I would need to replace all of my phones with wireless handsets, including a speaker phone that I use for business calls.



I'd drop home service completely, if I could somehow keep the phone number



I may give VOIP service a third try. The first two tries proved very unreliable.



I live in Loudoun County Virginia, 40 miles from the White House, yet have no broadband options. I'm stuck with 1 Mbs fixed wireless for $100/month. Probably the reason that VOIP has problems. Third world countries have better broadband...



Bring back the old days of regulation!

IowaCowboy

Supermarket Hero

Premium Member

join:2010-10-16

Springfield, MA ARRIS SB6183

Netgear R8000

9 recommendations IowaCowboy Premium Member The only acceptable replacement The only acceptable replacement is a FiOS or U-Verse like service. Wireless is about as reliable as my old Dodge Stratus that the transmission was about to fall out when I traded it.



Nothing aggravates me more than being on a call where I've waited a good 15 minutes (after jumping through the "I didn't understand your response" nonsense when pressing 0) to get a live operator and the call drops.



I spent 50 minutes on the phone with my health insurer, the call dropped and the issue wasn't resolved. I was pissed as hell. This after being transferred around to several different operators which didn't help the situation.

Zenit

The system is the solution

Premium Member

join:2012-05-07

Purcellville, VA 9 recommendations Zenit Premium Member This is a dangerous game The FCC is playing an extremely dangerous game with this. Verizon so far has not shut down copper without replacing it with FiOS (either through pressure or on its own). AT&T has shut down people without caring.



This ruling will allow for VZ to cut off copper in regions with poor wireless coverage, effectively sending millions of American's back to 1900, before phone service was even available.



Verizon can say "but our coverage map shows COVERAGE" but in reality that map is nowhere near accurate, its the same for all wireless services.



Wireless technology cannot support the load of the old wired network, due to the limited bandwidth in each wireless sector. Only X data connections per sector per second, only X voice connections, its very limited. In crisis situations the wireless networks just totally fail due to overload.



Hell, in a normal situation I have gotten "call failure" on both AT&T and T-Mobile, even the legacy "Were Sorry, all Circuits are Busy Now, please try your call again error" that has not been heard on wire line since the transition to digital multiplexed switching.*



*Unless a disaster or technical fault happens



This ruling is an absolute mess.

bcltoys

join:2008-07-21 1 edit 7 recommendations bcltoys Member There will be. There will be people left with nothing,there are places that wireless does not reach,there are places cable will not go you take away AT&T and Verizon's wireline service there will be people with ZIP Nada Nothing... Wireless is usable at my house if I go outside and still have very low signal,we have no cable Comcast will not service my road take away Verizon for all intent and purpose I will have nothing and I live within 40 miles of DC buy the way the crow fly's.Also Verizon does not service my road with DSL so they can't take away what I don't have so I will be up the creek without a Fucking paddle. uwuowo

join:2015-10-19 5 recommendations uwuowo Member Wireless replacing wireline? LMAO You need a mental health check if you unironically believe fixed wireless is going to be any better than copper



I live in Frontier (ex Verizon, ex GTE) territory so there's no way in hell I'm seeing any form of FTTP deployment locally...

Anon54bd9

@fuse.net 5 recommendations Anon54bd9 Anon security / privacy / legal implications It IS important to try to address transitional impact to 'legacy' services.



What worries ME are the implications for privacy and the security of personal communications. There is a HUGE body of law, precedent, and regulations that (try to) control government access to the wireline network. But when forced to put all voice grade communications over a fixed wireless path, I/we loose (what little) protections, established over more than a century, we have left.



How is this different from cell phones? It isn't, and that's my point. Stingrays and similar technologies make it trivially easy for snoopers to sniff / capture all comms in a geographic area, simply by surreptitiously sticking up an antenna.



I would like to see FCC et al. address this aspect of the transition up front... p51d007

Naa-P51d Mustang

join:2002-06-07

Springfield, MO 4 recommendations p51d007 Member Bye Bye a phone that works through thick & thin As much as I'd like to see copper go the way of the crank telephone, because it was independent of the local utility company, to provide electrical service, you at least had a dial telephone that would work in the event of most disasters, other than a direct hit by a hurricane/tornado. Most of the time, during lightning storms, the phone would work. People living in urban areas, can't understand why people need a dial telephone that plugs into a wall. But, if you've ever driven I-80, from Mitchell, SD, to Grand Rapids, SD, like I did about 10 years ago, your nearest neighbor would be MILES away, and the nearest thing to a town, could be 100 miles away. The USA is SPREAD OUT. The amount of money to run fiber is cost prohibitive in areas like this, and wireless can be sometimes spotty at best. Some of these people would be underserved by cutting the copper, but, coppers time has come.

As a person that repairs office machines for a living, I still have to deal with the aging "technology" called fax machines, thanks in part to the HIPAA law. Email can't be "trusted" but a fax document is considered more secure. It's a PITA trying to get some of these old tech machines, to work on VoIP, not to mention the ones still on copper, because the "phone company" won't repair the lines for broken connections/crosstalk.

On one trunk line in our town, they pretty much in our rainy season, keep a bottle of liquid nitrogen strapped to a pole feeding it through the line, to keep the moisture out of the line. Cheaper than repairing it.

Anon5b4a7

@teksavvy.com 3 recommendations Anon5b4a7 Anon A customer told me how much his last data bill was on his cell phone $900 CA. I could not believe it. What kind of company can honestly state this is a consumer friendly way to provide and bill for a service? We aren't talking about a 900 number, but from this bill, they sure do bill like it is. It doesn't cost them 900 bucks a YEAR to provide that access. This sort of thing ought to be illegal. I think companies need to be forced to crack their books and prove what they charge is legit, and not just padded up to fleece people and pay for trophy wives and yachts.