The FCC order 19-72A1 has caused quite a frenzy in the telecom industry. Many have interrupted this order to mean that plain-old-telephony-service (POTS) lines are going away in August 2022. However, this order is not a mandate, and it just allows carriers to no longer offer discounted rates to competitors for POTS line resale (and other copper services).
Before this new order and according to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) had to sell their POTS products at a discount to competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). This allowed the CLECs to sell POTS products at a competitive price in the market without having to build their own infrastructure. The FCC has eliminated this requirement as of August 2, 2022.
