January’s FCC item on IP transition trials will...
January’s FCC item on IP transition trials will be “essentially a procedural order” that says the commission sees “value” in moving forward with trials, said Patrick Halley, acting director of the agency’s Office of Legislative Affairs, at a Technological Advisory…
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Committee meeting Monday. Chairman Tom Wheeler has made clear that in his view, “these are not technical trials,” Halley said: The agency and companies involved understand the technical issues. They are also not “legal trials,” Halley said: These are “end-user impact trials” to ensure important values are maintained. The agency will seek comment on details of the trials, likely with an initial deadline, but also likely with “multiple proposals” for comments to be accepted on a rolling basis, Halley said. The record is “full” on issues like IP interconnection, last-mile issues and issues of copper retirement, with multiple dockets and pleadings in the record, he said. So what Wheeler is looking for is a “framework around which we will decide all these issues, but not within the context of a trial,” Halley said. “We are open to any sort of trial proposals that make sense to help us make this transition happen as smoothly as possible.”