Five Fundamentals for the Phone Network Transition

Public Knowledge released its first white paper on America's phone transition titled, "."

The paper looks at the transition from a copper based infrastructure to an Internet Protocol (IP) based network. The paper explains how the phone network is transitioning into new technologies, but that does not change the needs of Americans nor does it change the responsibilities of carriers. This paper gives important background information on the history of the phone network and the policies that were enacted to bring a phone to every farm and electricity to every home. Public Knowledge's white paper shows that adhering to basic fundamental values we take for granted, could ensure that our next phone system meets the needs of American's.

The basic five fundamentals discussed in the paper are:

• Service to All Americans
• Competition and Interconnection
• Consumer Protection
• Reliability
• Public Safety