FCC Releases Voice Telephone Services Reports

The Federal Communication Commission used FCC Form 477 to collect subscribership information from providers of voice telephone services – incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), and mobile voice providers – since December 1999. The FCC has required interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (“interconnected VoIP”) service providers to report subscribership information since December 2008. Also, starting with the data reported for 2014, FCC Form 477 has been modified to distinguish “over-the-top” (colloquially, “bring your own broadband”) interconnected VoIP subscriptions from other interconnected VoIP subscriptions. Retail voice telephone service customers are served by two wireline technologies – end-user switched access lines and interconnected VoIP subscriptions – and by mobile wireless subscriptions.