Text: FCC Release on Advanced Telecommunications Services

(Agency requires phone companies to "line share") (1050)

New rules regarding ordinary phone lines will help more Americans gain access to lower cost broadband services, according to a November 18 order issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It mandates "line sharing" by local telephone companies to allow other companies to provide high speed internet access over unused, high-frequency portions of phone lines.

By ending local phone companies' exclusivity on "line sharing," the FCC aims "to ensure that as many companies as possible will be able to deploy new technologies on a faster, more cost-effective basis and should accelerate the ability of residential and small business customers to access competitive broadband services from their choice of providers."

The manner in which phone lines are used allows much more information than normal voice phone calls to be carried over the original wires without the need for additional wiring or phone lines. Voice calls take up only the lower frequency of the local phone network and the lines in a house, leaving the upper frequency free for establishing digital subscriber lines (DSLs), which can be used without interfering with the house's telephone service. In addition to allowing people to utilize the internet while still being able to receive phone calls, DSL modems can transmit data 120 times faster than the best 56k modems available for normal phone lines.

News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found on the Commission's web site www.fcc.gov.

Following is the text of the FCC Press Release:

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November 18, 1999

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION ACTION TO ACCELERATE AVAILABILITY OF ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES FOR RESIDENTIAL AND SMALL BUSINESS CONSUMERS

"Line Sharing" to Lower Cost and Increase Availability of Broadband Services Used for High Speed Access to the Internet

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules to promote competition for advanced services, by directing local telephone companies to share their telephone lines with providers of high speed Internet access and other data services. This Order is intended to ensure that as many companies as possible will be able to deploy new technologies on a faster, more cost-effective basis and should accelerate the ability of residential and small business customers to access competitive broadband services from their choice of providers.

The Advanced Services Third Report and Order adopted today permits competitive carriers to obtain access to the high-frequency portion of the local loop from the incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) over which the incumbent LEC provides voice services. This will enable competitive carriers to provide Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)-based services over the same telephone lines simultaneously used by incumbent LECs to provide basic telephone service, a technique referred to as "line sharing."

Line sharing will permit consumers to obtain innovative data services from either incumbent or competitive carriers, without having to forego the traditional voice services from their provider of choice. Since line sharing allows customers to receive both services on the same line, it eliminates the need for consumers to procure a second line. This allows for more efficient use of the existing telephone network.

Incumbent LECs are already using line sharing technology to offer basic telephone service and DSL services over the same line. Thus the Commission's action places competitive carriers on a more equal footing with incumbent LECs, while at the same time not affecting the incumbent LEC's ability to offer its DSL service or its voice service.

The Commission also established policies intended to ensure the compatibility of advanced services and traditional phone service and to minimize the risk of harmful interference among services. The policies adopted in this order ensure that American consumers will not face undue delay in receiving the benefits of technological innovation.

The Order adopted gives states and this Commission an opportunity to work together to ensure that competitive carriers can begin providing innovative data services as quickly as possible, thereby fulfilling the mutually shared goal of expediting the deployment of advanced services to all Americans.

Report No. CC 99-54 CC Docket No. 98-147

News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found on the Commission's web site www.fcc.gov.

FACT SHEET: Advanced Services Third Report and Order "Line Sharing"

I. Technical Aspects of Order --ADSL modems are capable of transmitting at up to 120 times faster than the speed of 56 kilobits per second (kbps) dial-up modems.

--ADSL modems are capable of receiving up to 8 megabits per second (Mbps) "downstream," and transmitting up to 1 Mbps "upstream."

--The high frequency portion of the loop is the frequency range above the voiceband on a copper loop facility used to carry analog circuit-switched voiceband transmissions.

--Carriers use a passive filter, or splitter, to split the digital and voice signals and direct them to the packet-switched network and circuit-switched network, respectively.

II. Pro-Competitive Aspects of Order -- Consumers will not have to buy a 2nd telephone line to have access to a competitive carrier's high-speed Internet access.

--Consumers will not have to change their phone number to get access to a competitive carrier's high-speed Internet access service.

--Line sharing will facilitate further investment by competitive data providers and encourage these providers to deploy advanced services in areas where, heretofore, it has not been economically viable to do so.

III. Operational Aspects of Order --Incumbents must provide unbundled access to the high frequency portion of the loop to any carrier that seeks to deploy any version of xDSL that is presumed to be acceptable for shared line deployment in accordance with the rules adopted in the Order.

--Incumbents are not required to unbundle the lower frequency portion of the loop (voiceband).

--Incumbents must share the line with only one requesting carrier.

--Carriers may not request access to just the high frequency portion of a loop if the incumbent is not presently using that loop to provide analog voice service.

--The requirements set forth in the Order will go into effect 30 days from publication in the Federal Register. The Order recognizes, however, that it will take additional time to work out operational issues.

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