Making the Digital Transition an “Upgrade for All” Again

Copper networks still form the backbone of America’s communication system despite the rise of fiber -- and providers are either pulling the plug or letting them fall into disrepair. With growing concern that carriers were effectively abandoning their legacy copper lines in rural areas degrading local phone service to unusably low quality, newly appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler began a proceeding in Jan 2014 to create rules to govern what became known as the “Technology Transition” of the legacy telephone network to an all IP-based network. In April 2017, a mere eight months since the Federal Communications Commission completed the rulemaking, Chairman Pai began the process of repealing the Tech Transition safeguards. Why? As usual, Chairman Pai claimed that this deregulation would accelerate broadband deployment. Also as usual, the 2017 Order confidently predicted that carriers had incentive to keep their networks in repair and to avoid abandoning or mistreating their customers, blithely ignoring the rather voluminous record that in the real world outside the Washington Beltway that carriers were, at that very moment, abandoning their customers and allowing their networks to break down in some areas to the point of unusability. 

This is why we sued the FCC, and why -- along with other public interest groups -- we’re going to argue for reinstating the rules before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug 27. History has shown us that we cannot just trust carriers to keep their word when it comes to protecting consumers during the transition to digital, and no American deserves to be left behind in the digital era. This technology transition should be an upgrade for everyone.