FCC Will Clarify FTTP Rules — But Not In Public

Telecom Policy Report, June 30, 2004

The FCC has decided to exclude from its public meeting agenda a clarification the agency plans to issue in connection with its controversial Triennial Review Order (TRO). The clarification, sources tell TPR, deals with that portion of the TRO having to do with deregulation of fiber upgrades in the incumbent local exchange carriers' (ILECs') local loops.

Rather than being acted upon by the Commissioners en banc and in public, the clarification now will be circulated next month to each Commissioner for individual action. There will be no public airing of the matter, sources say. While it is not unusual for the FCC to adopt non-controversial orders in such a manner (i.e., via "circulation"), doing so virtually eliminates any possibility of questioning the Commissioners or key members of their staffs during a public forum.

Essentially, the FCC does not believe that this particular order is especially controversial in that it merely seeks to make clear that fiber deployed to multiple dwelling units should be treated the same as fiber to single-family homes. In other words; fiber upgrades won't be included on the list of unbundled network elements (UNEs) that the ILECs must provide on a wholesale basis to their competitors.

The FCC's anticipated clarification of the fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) provisions of the TRO will likely be well received by the ILECs, especially the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs). Indeed, three of the BOCs -- BellSouth, SBC and Verizon -- have already undertaken massive FTTP rollouts that some analysts predict will be delivering true broadband services (e.g., bandwidth greater than 45 Mbps, which is comparable to or better than cableco-provided broadband) to 70 percent of all residential customers in the nation within the next five to eight years. Even so, the reconsideration order stops short of requiring the ILECs to document the progress of their FTTP rollouts, which is something that the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) has asked for.

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