FCC commissioners will give RBOCs greater incentive to build fiber networks by providing two clarifications in the near future regarding long-distance obligations and fiber to the curb (FTTC) deployments, according to numerous sources.

Although the FCC’s triennial review order specified that fiber to the home (FTTH) buildouts would not be subject to unbundling obligations, state regulators planned to make the point moot by arguing that RBOCs agreed to unbundle their networks when they asked to enter the long-distance markets. The FCC will rule in the next few weeks that these long-distance agreements--under Section 271--do not apply to the new fiber networks, according to RBOC sources and published reports.

"This is the Big Kahuna," said one RBOC source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Such a ruling would be critical to the proposed construction of fiber networks. For example, Verizon Communications said this summer that it needed FCC clarifications on the unbundling requirements concerning multi-dwelling units (MDUs), the Section 271 clarification and the difference between mass-market and enterprise customers to deploy FTTH inside its RBOC territory. The FCC made the MDU clarification recently, and the mass market/enterprise question is not expected to be a large barrier.

In addition, two RBOC sources at the Telecom ’04 conference confirmed that the FCC next week will grant BellSouth’s petition to treat FTTC deployments like FTTH by removing any unbundling obligations.

"We’ve got three votes," one RBOC source said.