![]() |
NEWS | ||||
Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 |
News media information 202 / 418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 202/418-2555 |
||||
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). |
|||||
|
|||||
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION PROPOSES STREAMLINING TECHNICAL RULES FOR CUSTOMER TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT
Proposed Rules Highlight Commission's Biennial Regulatory Review to Eliminate Unnecessary Regulations as Competition Increases in Telecom Markets
|
|||||
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to privatize the process for developing technical
standards for and approval of customer telephone equipment also known as customer premises
equipment (CPE). CPE is telecommunications equipment, such as telephones, faxes and
modems, operating on a customer's premises to originate, route or terminate telecommunications
over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Today's action coincides with the
Commission's announcement of progress made in its Biennial Regulatory Review to repeal or
modify unnecessary regulations. Today's proposals, which would reduce the FCC's involvement in the setting of technical criteria and approval of CPE, are expected to expedite the process for bringing innovative telephone equipment to the marketplace, thereby increasing the choices available to consumers. Additionally, CPE manufacturers are expected to save millions of dollars a year from the proposed streamlined process. Currently, it takes the FCC typically two to four weeks to approve a CPE application showing that the equipment meets the technical requirements that ensure the product does not harm the telephone network. Today's proposals do not affect the Commission rules that ensure access to telecommunications and services by persons with disabilities, nor the Commission rules that deal with network demarcation and inside wire.
Before the Commission established its Part 68 rules in 1975, CPE was manufactured almost exclusively by Western Electric, which was part of the Bell System of companies that included the local exchange and long distance providers in most parts of the country. This ensured that no harmful CPE was connected to the telephone network, but also created a monopoly in the development and manufacture of CPE. The Commission's Part 68 rules have facilitated a vibrant, competitive market for CPE, reduced prices and resulted in a proliferation of new equipment and capabilities available to consumers by assuring that registered CPE can be freely connected to the telephone network.
CC Docket No. 99-216
Common Carrier Bureau contacts: Staci Pies or Susan Magnotti at (202) 418-2320
on the Commission's web site www.fcc.gov.
|