Comptel, an association representing competitive carriers, has asked the Federal Communications Commission to put rules in place to prevent incumbent carriers from removing copper-based access networks when those networks are replaced with fiber-based facilities. In its December 7 filing, Comptel also asked the FCC to require incumbents to let competitors use copper loops that are no longer in service.
Pointing to technologies such as Ethernet over copper capable of supporting transmission speeds up to 200 Mb/s, the Comptel filing argues that “competitors have demonstrated that copper is a viable medium for bringing exceptional broadband service to consumers. Comptel member companies deploy broadband equipment in the incumbent LEC central offices and connect to end-users via leased unbundled copper loops.”
Currently competitive carriers purchase unbundled copper loops that have not yet been retired from incumbents at TELRIC prices, which are intended to reflect the cost to rebuild the network. But if retired copper loops are used, Comptel argues that pricing should be lower and should instead be based on averaged costs of restoring service and ensuring that facilities are in working order.
In what Comptel calls a “rare instance” in which the incumbent cannot reactivate a retired copper connection, the association says the incumbent should be required to provide an Ethernet virtual private line based on its fiber infrastructure to competitors. In that situation, Comptel says pricing should be such that “the entrant would be indifferent to leasing the requisite capacity from the incumbent LEC compared to the cost to derive the same level of capacity on the copper loop that has been removed.”
