Local Telephone Competition

Twice a year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and facilities-based mobile telephony providers to submit information to the FCC so that the state of competition in the industry may be analyzed. On 7/23/09, the FCC released statistics reflecting the submitted data as of 6/30/08. A summary includes:

~~ As of the end of June ’08, approximately 124.6 million ILEC switched access lines, 30.0 million CLEC switched access line, and 255.3 million mobile telephony service subscriptions were utilized by end-user customers to obtain local telephone service.

~~ 9.4 million lines (of the 30.0 million CLEC end-user switched access lines) were provided over coaxial cable connections. This figure represents about 71% of the 13.1 million end-user switched access lines that CLECs reported providing over their own local loop facilities.

~~ The number of mobile telephony subscribers rose by 17.0 million over last year.
About 8% of the 255.3 million mobile subscriptions are billed by mobile telephony service resellers.

~~ At the end of June ‘08, there was at least one CLEC serving customers in 82% of the nation’s Zip Codes, with about 97% of U.S. households residing in those Zip Codes. Additionally, there were multiple carriers reporting they provided local telephone service in the country’s major population centers.

~~ The 30.0 million lines reported by CLECs is about 19% of the 154.7 million total end-user switched access lines.

~~ CLECs reported:
-- 12.4 million (or 14%) of the 89.6 million lines that served residential end users and 17.7 million (or 27%) of the 64.7 million lines that served business, institutional, and government customers.
-- Providing 44% of their end-user switched access lines over their own local loop facilities, 36% by using unbundled network elements (UNEs) that they leased from other carriers, and 20% through resale arrangements with unaffiliated carriers.

~~ Incumbent LECs:
-- Provided about 11% fewer UNE loops with switching (referred to as the UNE-Platform) to unaffiliated carriers at the end of June 2008 than they reported six months earlier (4.9 million compared to 5.5 million) and about 7% fewer UNE loops without switching (3.8 million compared to 4.1 million).
-- Were the presubscribed interstate long distance carrier for 59% of the switched access lines they provided to end users, while CLECs were the interstate long distance carrier for 79% of their switched access lines."


The FCC will continue to post updated information as available. Future reports will also reflect interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (interconnected VoIP) statistics, as per the FCC’s Report and Order (FCC 08-89) which revised requirements to encompass VoIP subscriber information as well.

To review or download a complete copy of the report, visit: www.fcc.gov/wcb/stats.