NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: December 31, 2007 Mark Wigfield at (202) 418-0253 Email: mark.wigfield@fcc.gov FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RELEASES DATA ON LOCAL TELEPHONE COMPETITION Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released new data on local telephone service competition in the United States. Twice a year, all incumbent local exchange carriers (incumbent LECs) and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) are required to report basic information about their local telephone service, and all facilities-based mobile telephony providers are required to provide information about their subscribers, pursuant to the FCC’s local telephone competition and broadband data gathering program (FCC Form 477). Statistics released today reflect data as of December 31, 2006. Summary Statistics · End-user customers obtained local telephone service by utilizing approximately 138.8 million incumbent LEC switched access lines, 28.7 million CLEC switched access lines, and 229.6 million mobile telephony service subscriptions at the end of December 2006. · Of the 28.7 million CLEC end-user switched access lines, 6.8 million lines were provided over coaxial cable connections. The 6.8 million lines represent about 61% of the 11.2 million end-user switched access lines that CLECs reported providing over their own local loop facilities. · Mobile telephony service providers reported 229.6 million subscribers at the end of December 2006, which is 26 million, or 13%, more than a year earlier. About 7% of these subscribers were billed by mobile telephony service resellers. · There was at least one CLEC serving customers in 82% of the nation’s Zip Codes at the end of December 2006. About 98% of United States households resided in those Zip Codes. Moreover, multiple carriers reported providing local telephone service in the major population centers of the country. · The 28.7 million lines reported by CLECs is about 17% of the 167.5 million total end-user switched access lines reported for the end of December 2006. · CLECs reported 12.2 million (or 12%) of the 101.4 million lines that served residential end users and 16.4 million (or 25%) of the 66.1 million lines that served business, institutional, and government customers. · CLECs reported providing 39% of their end-user switched access lines over their own local loop facilities, 41% by using unbundled network elements (UNEs) that they leased from other carriers, and 20% through resale arrangements with unaffiliated carriers. · Incumbent LECs reported providing about 16% fewer UNE loops with switching (referred to as the UNE-Platform) to unaffiliated carriers at the end of December 2006 than they reported six months earlier (7.1 million compared to 8.4 million) and about the same number of UNE loops without switching (4.4 million). · Incumbent LECs were the presubscribed interstate long distance carrier for 58% of the switched access lines they provided to end users, while CLECs were the interstate long distance carrier for 76% of their switched access lines. As additional information becomes available, it will be posted on the Commission’s Internet site. The report is available for reference in the FCC’s Reference Information Center, Courtyard Level, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC. Copies may be purchased by calling Best Copy and Printing, Inc. at (800) 378–3160. The report can also be downloaded from the Wireline Competition Bureau Statistical Reports Internet site at www.fcc.gov/wcb/stats. - FCC - Wireline Competition Bureau contacts: James Eisner and Ellen Burton at (202) 418-0940, TTY (202) 418-0484.