As the FCC ponders the fate of the copper network that has experienced enough of an erosion rate to raise the question of whether copper is an affordable option, CenturyLink seems to think so because they've invested heavily in their copper plant. Still, with about 45% of Americans having only cell service, questions remain about the fate of the PSTN and copper plant split up between carriers.
Some carriers plan to provide eight-hour battery backup to residential users of cellular gateways, while other carriers offering triple play such as AT&T are incorporating lithium battery backups in their modems. Still others already place batteries on their fiber, as does Verizon. This could potentially be a real payday for battery manufacturers and an exponential boost to ongoing sales.
But cutting the cord isn't going to be an easy task. Fax and credit card machines, dictation equipment, dialup, alarm and monitoring systems, and scores of other uses dependent upon good old dial tone may hinder plans to ax the copper plant.
The sense of urgency to push everyone off the PSTN copper plant just doesn't make sense, especially when fiber to the home (FTTH) or premises (FTTP) is seemingly stalled. What should be a national effort to build a national fiber infrastructure is riddled with more delay, endless studies, and reports and politics as usual. A message to all those concerned: Build it now with fiber.
Both AT&T and Verizon fiber services offer the ability to interconnect 2500 type devices. Comcast uses its Aries box to provide dial tone, too, but its copper coax infrastructure is vulnerable and fiber is still a better long-term solution.
Every enterprise should be demanding fiber service, just as the Hilton has issued directives to all it's properties to convert to all fiber. T1s and PRIs should die quick and fast. While I don't usually make proclamations, fiber should be the choice for any business.
Each time we implement a successful SIP trunk deployment we reduce the need for copper. Some customers don't want the backup analog POTS line. The campus customers usually have two Internet resources: Fiber (AT&T or Verizon) and Coax (Comcast) as their secondary route. MPLS customers using GMPLS need to worry less about alternate pipes.
Both Wi-Fi and cellular services will displace more 2500 sets and devices dependent upon landlines. How quickly and when is all up for debate, lobbying and rule-making. This could become a push for SIP trunks, hosted services, and battery backups. The reality is that there will be push-back from Grandma and Grandpa and scores of people caught off guard regardless of how much notice they are given that the PSTN they've relied on for decades is being displaced.
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