Definitive Answers Elude FCC Workshop on PSTN Phase-Out

A Federal Communications Commission workshop about transitioning the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to new technologies helped frame the issues involved but ultimately raised more questions than it answered.

Perhaps that’s not surprising considering the complexity of the issue. The potential phase-out of the PSTN has been top of mind within the telecom industry, given the ongoing transition to IP based networks. AT&T has gone as far to say it would like to be relieved of the requirement to provide traditional POTS service throughout its local service territory. And the FCC’s recent decision to transition today’s voice-focused Universal Service program to focus instead on broadband has given the issue even more prominence.
FCC organizers and others came up with several important questions that received little or nothing in the way of constructive answers, including:

• Should a sunset date for the PSTN be established and if so, when should it be?
• Are there certain elements inherent in today’s PSTN—such as 24-hour battery backup–that might not need to be a requirement of the replacement infrastructure?
• Should carrier-of-last-resort requirements be maintained and if so, how should they be structured?

Perhaps a second FCC workshop about transitioning the PSTN, scheduled for December 14 and targeted to focus on “economic, technological, and policy issues” will hold more answers.