FCC chairman Brendan Carr starts granting telecom lobby’s wish list

In July 2024, AT&T became the first carrier to apply for a technology transition discontinuance "under the Adequate Replacement Test relying on the applicant's own replacement service," the order said. "AT&T indicated in this application that it was relying on a totality of the circumstances showing to establish the adequacy of its replacement service, but also committed to the performance testing methodology and parameters established in the 2016 Technology Transitions Order Technical Appendix." This "delay[ed] the filing of its discontinuance application for several months," the FCC said. Harold Feld, senior VP of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, said the FCC clarification that carriers don't need to perform testing, "combined with elimination of most of the remaining notice requirements, means that you don't have to worry about actually proving anything. Just say 'totality of the circumstances' and by the time anyone who cares finds out, the application will be granted." ... Read full article.