ALERT TDM/Copper UNE Analog Based Voice Goes Bye-Bye 8/2/22

[Samot]

I knew the FCC had made some calls about TDM legacy networks and retirement happening. I've been seeing FCC request notices flying by almost daily. What I forgot about was that TDM/copper voice is being fully decommissioned this year. I know some carriers have already started the process and have shorter deadlines for their customers. But this means that all TDM based voices services (commonly known as POTS) needs to be replaced by August 2nd, 2022. With all the other changes and deadlines that I've had to deal with this one slipped by me.

Original FCC Order: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-19-72A1.pdf

 

[Halea]

Does this mean that all last mile wiring will be DSL or some equivalent digital technology which is existing copper wire compatible, or does FCC expect them to be replaced with higher-standard digital circuits/wiring?

Another thought that has been lingering in my mind is; imagine telco companies going purely IP, they could literally free up all their facilities housing the traditional telco switches. Then imagine the money they would make! In New York City and San Francisco alone they would suddenly have tens of billions of dollars worth of - marketable - real estate.

 

[Samot]

Does this mean that all last mile wiring will be DSL or some equivalent digital technology which is existing copper wire compatible, or does FCC expect them to be replaced with higher-standard digital circuits/wiring?

Another thought that has been lingering in my mind is; imagine telco companies going purely IP, they could literally free up all their facilities housing the traditional telco switches. Then imagine the money they would make! In New York City and San Francisco alone they would suddenly have tens of billions of dollars worth of - marketable - real estate.

Well, the TL;DR is that in 2016 the FCC ruled that TDM was no longer the dominant technology of the PSTN. In 2019 they ruled that the unbundled services the 1996 Telecom Act forced incumbents to offer to CLECs and the fair rate policy no longer apply as those services has seen a dramatic decrease in the last decade. From the ruling:

Commission data reflect that between December 2008 and June 2017, the TDM share of all wireline voice telephone connections, including both switched access lines (POTS) and interconnected VoIP, fell from 82% to 37%, while the number of interconnected VoIP connections increased by almost 300% over the same period. Further, residential reliance on traditional switched access services fell by 71%, while residential interconnected VoIP subscriptions increased by 104%. Similarly, over this same time period, business reliance on traditional switched access services fell by 49%, while business interconnected VoIP subscriptions increased by over 1,062%. This is due to a number of factors, including a shift in both consumer and supplier choice to migrate to other types of communications networks such as fiber or wireless.

Basically, three years ago the FCC rules that the TDM networks can be decommissioned by the incumbents, and they removed the fair price policy on TDM based POTs. This why you have seen traditional POTS line pricing increase so much over the last few years. They also found that many CLECs where not investing in their own networks, i.e. moving off of TDM, but just relying on the incumbents TDM legacy network. Verizon is being the most aggressive with this with a deadline of April 30th for its user base to move to a new service. After that, they will start discontinuing active TDM services.

In short, TDM is no longer the foothold it once was for the PSTN. It is now a hinderance.

 

[billsimon]

Something lost in the transition from POTS is the giant battery banks and diesel generators at the CO that would power a copper loop circuit virtually forever even when there's a local power grid problem. This is one of the obvious reasons that many people have stuck with POTS lines. Will we ever see that kind of reliability again? I understand that when the telcos deploy fiber to individual units they supply a battery backup unit with the ONT. So instead of a robust CO built to withstand all the forces of mother nature (and the USSR) we have small batteries attached to the sides of everyone's houses or businesses that will need to be replaced regularly.

 

[krzykat]

Thanks for this info. I have a client that has had issues, and I thought I proved to them that its their IT guy that doesn't have network setup properly, as when I go outside their internal LAN and go straight to the ISP router, things work. However, the other day they said they were going to go back to landlines. I just emailed them expressing what the exact issues are, and I told them by August, they'll be switching again. I also included a copy of the FCC document in hopes that it helps retain the account.

 

[Samot]

Something lost in the transition from POTS is the giant battery banks and diesel generators at the CO that would power a copper loop circuit virtually forever even when there's a local power grid problem. This is one of the obvious reasons that many people have stuck with POTS lines. Will we ever see that kind of reliability again? I understand that when the telcos deploy fiber to individual units they supply a battery backup unit with the ONT. So instead of a robust CO built to withstand all the forces of mother nature (and the USSR) we have small batteries attached to the sides of everyone's houses or businesses that will need to be replaced regularly.

Cell phones. Just look at the numbers. As far as residential goes, people have been cancelling POTS lines in favor of cell phones.

We have an entire generation that is growing up without knowing what a home phone line is. Remember when we were young and going to our grandparents looking at their rotary phone going "wow that is outdated" that is how the youth look at any analog phone.

 

[billsimon]

going to our grandparents looking at their rotary phone going "wow that is outdated" that is how the youth look at any analog phone.

I do remember. My grandma had a party line!

 

[AndyInNYC]

Heck, *I* grew up with rotary phones. I thought I was something special when I had one plugged into the jack in my bedroom as a teenager.

 

[krzykat]

I do remember. My grandma had a party line!

LOL - I made a partyline for my family. Doesn't matter where they are in the country, they call in and get on the party (conference line) - I know not the same as the old partyline, but still fun for family. They just text and say - let's all chat and call the line.

 

[hawk#1]

We didn't have party lines when I grew up. We had one phone at the local store for the community. Now a days, kids get a cell phone before they even start school.

 

[Halea]

I still have a rotary phone on my office desk and I use it for a few select numbers that I call regularly (understand phone numbers that I can remember )
That and my Revox A77 tape player are two antique pieces that I still use every day.

 

[kenn10]

Sorry, but I don't see this happening with the rural phone companies, many which have literally no digital services as in nothing but analog pots lines over copper. My original home town in Virginia does not have DSL, there is no cable modem service (analog cable system in a small area of the county), and virtually no cell service. I just don't see the phone company there spending millions in that footprint to go digital nor the government enforcing that on them.

 

[dghundt]

Something lost in the transition from POTS is the giant battery banks and diesel generators at the CO that would power a copper loop circuit virtually forever even when there's a local power grid problem. This is one of the obvious reasons that many people have stuck with POTS lines. Will we ever see that kind of reliability again? I understand that when the telcos deploy fiber to individual units they supply a battery backup unit with the ONT. So instead of a robust CO built to withstand all the forces of mother nature (and the USSR) we have small batteries attached to the sides of everyone's houses or businesses that will need to be replaced regularly.

That's the reason we kept our main office number on POTS. When our power has gone out, we can still connect an analog phone and it rings. In the end, that's what I need our phones to do - ring. Something to be said for that. Yes, I know we can call forward to cell lines and such....
Better look at our POTS bill!!!!!!

 

[Samot]

Sorry, but I don't see this happening with the rural phone companies, many which have literally no digital services as in nothing but analog pots lines over copper. My original home town in Virginia does not have DSL, there is no cable modem service (analog cable system in a small area of the county), and virtually no cell service. I just don't see the phone company there spending millions in that footprint to go digital nor the government enforcing that on them.

STIR/SHAKEN is going to force this in the future. This is also for incumbents shutting down their TDM network and their CLECs have to deal with it. Now a rural incumbent that has no other CLECs on their network is a different story.

However, with most everything from the FCC, these things are announced with enough forewarning that eventually a small incumbent that cant comply with industry standards and regulations will be forced to or take other drastic measures. There will be a point where TDM networks will be allowed to be rejected due to things like non STIR/SHAKEN compliance.

 

[KNERD]

Sorry, but I don't see this happening with the rural phone companies, many which have literally no digital services as in nothing but analog pots lines over copper. My original home town in Virginia does not have DSL, there is no cable modem service (analog cable system in a small area of the county), and virtually no cell service. I just don't see the phone company there spending millions in that footprint to go digital nor the government enforcing that on them.

It could.

Check out this article from 2011.

Guy lives 2 hour drive from the nearest town, and had DSL ran to his place at a cost of $10. It was back when the Department of Agriculture was giving out grants to companies to expand rural internet access.

A Glow in the Desert (Published 2011)

A former Manhattanite decamped to a 60-acre tract deep in West Texas where he lives off the grid, like a modern-day Thoreau.

www.nytimes.com

Looks like he is still posting on his Bloq

The Field Lab

Life off the grid in the SW Texas desert. An experiment in sustainable living. NUMBERS AT THE END OF EACH BLOG POST: temp at 8PM,high temp,low temp,rainfall,wind conditions(CalmBreezyWindyGusty). YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFieldLab Daily live streams at...

thefieldlab.blogspot.com

There this update on what's going on with rural internet

Broadband

www.usda.gov

 

[kenn10]

It could.

And pigs could fly. My family home is two miles from the nearest neighbor and 28,000 wire feet of deteriorating copper from the remote CO hut. It is a TDS island of telecom 35 miles from Richmond, VA. One cell tower from Verizon for the whole county. No AT&T or T-Mobile service.

In 1965, we paid $2,500 to have a phone line run to the house. We're talking bare wire and glass insulators on poles. Immediately, everyone else along that line hooked on for party line service without having to pay the construction cost. In the mid 70's, the then privately owned phone company ran underground cables throughout the county and installed a new CO switch (crossbar Northern NX2) and not much has changed since. TDS bought that phone company and eventually upgraded the CO to a Siemens digital office with remote huts throughout the county but has never done much more to either repair the copper or offer any data services. The only fiber they have run was to the remote shelf huts.

I don't see where anyone in that county even applied for the federal broadband money in all the giveaways. I'm not optimistic analog phone service will go away on this first deadline any more than 3G went away 5 years ago.

 

[hawk#1]

I have to agree with your thinking. I certainly don't think it is going to happen this year. I have yet to see the FCC meet any first time deadline.

 

[krzykat]

Completely agree.

 

[Samot]

I have to agree with your thinking. I certainly don't think it is going to happen this year. I have yet to see the FCC meet any first time deadline.

Kari's Law, Ray Baum's Act, STIR/SHAKEN and retirement of 7 digit dialing just for a few. In fact there was just a thread posted about Bandwidth and Vonage losing partial exemptions. Why? Missed their set deadlines.

Verizon has been notifying customers to be switched by April 30th or lose service. The others are following suit.

 

[hawk#1]

Maybe some companies individually in some areas of operation will meet the deadline, but I'm still waiting for the FCC to meet any specified initial deadline, without exemptions or extensions. Even going back to the days of CB radios, they missed deadline dates.