{"id":38168,"date":"2025-07-24T14:44:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T14:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?p=38168"},"modified":"2025-07-24T14:44:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T14:44:47","slug":"public-knowledge-opposes-fcc-vote-risking-americas-911-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-opposes-fcc-vote-risking-americas-911-access\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Knowledge Opposes FCC Vote Risking America\u2019s 911 Access"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/document\/accelerating-upgrade-away-old-copper-line-networks\">Notice of Proposed Rulemaking<\/a> to seek comment on the agency\u2019s plan to encourage a swift transition from copper to IP-based networks. Public Knowledge opposes the agency\u2019s action to abandon the responsibilities Congress charged it to perform, including ensuring that everyone has access to emergency services in their time of need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following can be attributed to Harold Feld, Senior Vice President of Public Knowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe FCC was created in 1934 to ensure communications service to all Americans. It is charged with ensuring that all Americans have access to 911. But this action invites comment on radical proposals that fly in the face of these core responsibilities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis item proposes to strip away the last protections for consumers with regard to the continued availability of basic voice service. The existing rules already make it simple for carriers to discontinue service. There is no evidence that any FCC requirements are delaying discontinuance of legacy services. What frustrates incumbents is ensuring that there are adequate replacements. But we must not \u201caccelerate the transition\u201d by cutting off rural America because legacy phone companies don\u2019t want to keep serving them.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDespite lip service to the need to keep all Americans connected, there is no proposed guarantee to ensure that all Americans will continue to have access to 911 \u2013 let alone basic phone service. The current regulations require carriers to show, at a minimum, that residents will have access to broadband service capable of reliably supporting voice. The item proposes to eliminate this requirement. Given the <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-urges-commerce-department-to-reconsider-bead-changes-risking-americas-connectivity\/\">uncertainty surrounding the BEAD program<\/a>, it is reckless to assume that all rural Americans will have access to broadband capable of supporting voice services. Yet the item proposes, in all seriousness, to forbear from <em>all<\/em> discontinuance regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEven more ridiculous is the 30-day comment period. This is a matter of tremendous technical complexity, and where the factual evidence lies in the <em>least connected<\/em> rural areas. But the item provides only the minimum period for comment following the publication in the Federal Register. In other words, this brief of a comment period actually limits the ability of those in rural areas to make their voices heard at the Commission on a matter that affects <em>every<\/em> community \u2013 and that\u2019s simply unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe upgrade of our national phone system cannot leave anyone behind. This cannot be an upgrade for some and a downgrade for the rest. We hope that when the FCC issues the final rule, it will remember that Congress created it explicitly to keep all Americans connected.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to seek comment on the agency\u2019s plan to encourage a swift transition from copper to IP-based networks. Public Knowledge opposes the agency\u2019s action to abandon the responsibilities Congress charged it to perform, including ensuring that everyone has access to emergency services in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-38168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-broadband-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Knowledge Opposes FCC Vote Risking America\u2019s 911 Access - Public Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-opposes-fcc-vote-risking-americas-911-access\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public Knowledge Opposes FCC Vote Risking America\u2019s 911 Access\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. 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