The End of the Beginning: FCC Invites IP Transition Trials

On January 30, the FCC invited voluntary experiments meant to ensure that the nation’s communications networks continue to provide the services consumers want and need in this era of historic technological transformations. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the launch of these trials is a "very big deal." He said that companies want to shut off circuit-switched networks, but that requires the FCC to make very important decisions that it should not take lightly. Chairman Wheeler pointed out that these are not technical trials -- "We know how to build an IP network," he said. Instead the FCC is framing the experiments as a way to ensure that the traditional values embedded in telecommunications policy continue through these transitions. Chairman Wheeler said consumers have come to expect certain things, and a right to expect those things, from their networks.