November 22, 2019
Everything has changed since 1996… except the unbundling rules
Background: At an open commission meeting today, the FCC approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on updating its unbundling and resale rules to reflect marketplace realities of intermodal voice and broadband competition.
The following statement can be attributed to Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO, USTelecom:
“USTelecom members continue to build the network infrastructure that connects America’s communities to the digital economy and is setting the stage for 5G and next generation technologies.
“But there is no rational argument in 2019 to subject only incumbent wireline providers – that already face stiff competition – to outdated, intrusive and unfair rules that do not apply to any other providers. The 1996 unbundling rules were supposed to spur facilities-based competition (mission accomplished), not extend discount access rates to competitive carriers in perpetuity.
“For this FCC, modernizing regulations has been a top priority, and this unbundling fix falls squarely under that rubric. Everything has changed in our turbo-charged communications sector since 1996. Everything except the unbundling rules. It’s time those changed too.”