Yesterday, Public Knowledge joined 23 other public interest, civil rights, tribal, and rural advocacy groups in a letter urging the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology to require Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai to address public safety concerns about America’s increasingly fragile and unreliable communications network.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules for the orderly phase out of the legacy telephone network as part of the upgrade of the national communications infrastructure (called the “Tech Transitions”).

Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to adopt a framework guiding the technology transition from the legacy phone network to digital services, ensuring the transition is an upgrade for all Americans and not just an upgrade for some and a downgrade for others.

Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission confirmed the agency’s July 14 Open Meeting agenda, including an item on the phone network’s technology transition. This digital or “IP” transition involves all carriers transitioning the phone network from copper lines to fiber cables. Public Knowledge, which has long spearheaded efforts to ensure this massive phone network upgrade remains an upgrade for all Americans, commends the FCC on its progress.

Public Knowledge will host a press briefing at 11 a.m. Nov. 6 to discuss the results of a report conducted by John Horrigan, an independent researcher, to determine what value consumers placed on their traditional phone networks. The briefing will focus on consumer responses to the threat of losing their existing copper lines and the importance of not leaving anyone behind in the phone network transition.

As I noted in my first post-Verizon v. FCC blog post, the Net Neutrality decision both dramatically expanded and dramatically limited the FCC’s authority. This has a large number of immediate implications for the FCC’s ability to conduct its work. While this ripples across just about every area of FCC jurisdiction, it has its most immediate impact on the transition of the phone system to all IP.

At a glance, the biggest losers are cable operators (except Comcast), CLECs, and anyone else that wants mandatory interconnection or cares about call completion. That means resolving the rural call completion problem just became harder, since VOIP providers cannot, now, be subject to the duty to complete calls. The most recent FCC Order, which imposes reporting requirements is still OK. But the original declaratory ruling requiring IP-based providers to actually complete calls is probably a dead letter.

On the other hand, the decision potentially empowers the state Public Utility Commissions (“PUCs”), or gives the FCC power to delegate to state PUCs, the ability to override the laws passed in 27 states that prohibit any regulation of IP based services, and to override limits on municipal broadband.

As communications technology changes, it is important that all Americans have access to reliable communications service. Rural America cannot get left behind.

From Sunday, June 23 to Wednesday, June 26, 2013 participants representing more than 500 local, regional, and national advocacy organizations gathered outside of DC to participate in the National Rural Assembly.  The Assembly works to build a stronger, more vibrant rural America and during the conference attendees discussed rural policies regarding health care, education, community development, and broadband deployment.

Verizon wants to replace copper landlines destroyed by Hurricane Sandy with a new fixed wireless service called Voice Link. But should victims of natural disaster be guinea pigs when fundamental basic services are at stake? Especially when it means losing access to broadband?

Ever since Hurricane Sandy destroyed huge pieces of its landline network last October, Verizon made it clear it did not want to rebuild its traditional copper network. Most folks assumed that meant replacing damaged copper with fiber. While some consumers have grumbled about being upgraded to a more expensive service, no one doubts fiber to the home represents a step up – especially on the broadband side. 

But what about those communities where Verizon does not want to spend the money upgrading to FIOS? Turns out, rather than an upgrade to fiber, these communities will play guinea pig for Verizon’s new, cheaper, more limited wireless alternative called “Voice Link.”

This is the final post in our series explaining Public Knowledge’s five fundamental principles for the transition of our phone network to IP-based technology. We’ve already discussed service to all Americans, interconnection and competition, consumer protection, and network reliability. Today we’ll dive into the last (but not least) of the five principles: public safety.

As the debate surrounding the technological transition of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to an all-IP network continues, it’s becoming fairly obvious that the guardians of the phone network need to handle this transition by establishing fundamental principles to guide our country’s policies moving forward. Today, Public Knowledge filed reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the FCC to do just that.