FCC Eliminates Phone Industry Regulations

The Federal Communications Commission granted certain telephone companies relief from regulations. In response to a petition filed by USTelecom, the FCC using its authority under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to forbear from enforcing rules and statutory provisions that are no longer needed to protect the public interest, the FCC therefore decided to:

• No longer enforce a rule that small, rural carriers set up separate affiliated companies to provide in-region long-distance service.
• No longer enforce service provisioning deadlines and the related requirement that carriers submit reports about their legacy “special access” services.
• No longer enforce the requirement that Bell companies provide nondiscriminatory access to poles, ducts, conduits, and rights-of-way. This obligation remains covered by Section 224 of the Communications Act.

This Order does not address USTelecom’s additional request for forbearance from statutory provisions and FCC rules related to unbundled network elements and resale. That request remains pending, and the statutory deadline for FCC action is Aug 2, 2019