FCC to Begin Acting on Phone-Network Upgrade
The nation’s phone system is changing quickly and it is time for the regulators to catch up, new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said Tuesday.
Mr. Wheeler, in a blog post, outlined his plan to move forward with what has become known as the IP Transition, the shifting of landlines from circuit-switched systems to a digital, Internet Protocol-based network. Mr. Wheeler said he expects the FCC to vote in January to begin collecting data and conducting trials, in hopes of figuring out how existing regulations must be tweaked to suit an all-digital communications network.