The FCC is beta testing a next-gen telephone network
Federal regulators have taken their first major step in accelerating the country's move toward high-capacity, fiber optic phone networks. In a unanimous vote Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission approved a program of trials designed to study the effects of shifting consumers onto next-generation infrastructure that will be able to carry advanced services like HD voice calls and video.
The trials will be set up in select places around the country by participating carriers as a prelude to a much larger transition that will have the nation's phone calls routed using the same Internet Protocol that powers the Web. The move led some at the FCC to draw comparisons to a sexier industry, software development.
"Sandbox thinking is very popular among start-ups in Silicon Valley, but why not put it to use in Washington?" said FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. "Testing big ideas in a small way is a good way to understand the consequences of our policy choices and the impact on consumers before unleashing them on the world at large."
