[LINK] US FCC now planning "all-IP" phone transition

[Kim Holburn]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/12/fcc-plans-for-death-of-circuit-switched-phone-networks.ars

> Telecom carriers increasingly run IP backbones and last-mile IP  
> access to offer Internet service to home and business users. Cable  
> and telcos like AT&T and Verizon have for years tried to move people  
> in the direction of IP-delivered services, especially for phone  
> service (when it comes to TV service, AT&T is the main IP-only  
> player in the US), but huge sections of the country still rely on  
> Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) using circuit-switched services.

....

> Given that voice services now make up only a fraction of the data  
> traveling across the total US communications networks, it certainly  
> makes little economic sense to continue supporting two separate  
> systems But, as with anything that has grown up for a century,  
> pulling the plug requires plenty of planning.

The mind boggles.  Is anything forward looking like this being planned  
in Oz?

-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
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