Just a day after the unanimous vote (CD...

Just a day after the unanimous vote (CD Jan 31 p1), the FCC released its order and further notice approving the IP transition trial framework Friday (http://fcc.us/LiOQmv). “We must act with dispatch,” the order said. “Technology transitions are already underway.” Modernizing communications networks will help dramatically reduce network costs, catalyze further investments in innovation and improve the lives of millions of Americans, it said. The order set out procedures for proposing service-based tests, and submitting “expressions of interest” in conducting rural broadband experiments. “The goal of all of these experiments and initiatives is to learn about the impact of the technology transitions on the customers -- and communities -- that rely on communications networks,” the order said. “Though the task before us is daunting, we take comfort that we are not alone in our efforts to encourage technology transitions while protecting the enduring values established by Congress for our nation’s communication networks.” Organizations from across the telecom industry applauded the FCC for unanimously approving the framework. The New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute said the end results of the transition should be consumers being better off. “They should benefit from an increase in competition rather than a decrease, and they should continue to benefit from all of the additional protections that exist where competition fails,” said Sarah Morris, OTI’s senior policy counsel. Public Knowledge said it agreed with the FCC that the new network must be “rigorously tested to ensure that consumers have a system that is even better” than the network Americans rely on today. “If the principles adopted today are the road map to the future, then these trials are a vital first step on that road,” Senior Vice President Harold Feld said. “Chairman [Tom] Wheeler got it right,” said the Broadband Coalition in a statement. “With the principles of competition at the core, the FCC’s statement of values can guide a successful move to IP technology.”