FCC OKs USTelecom’s Forbearance Petition; CenturyLink’s David Bartlett Quoted

CenturyLink has announced that the Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to pass a petition by trade group USTelecom to free up incumbent local exchange carriers from some legacy regulations.

“CenturyLink applauds the FCC’s conclusion that widespread competition has made it appropriate to forbear from certain unnecessary and outdated, incumbent-specific regulations,” David Bartlett, vice president of federal government affairs at CenturyLink, said in a statement published Friday. 

“We appreciate the FCC’s decision to act on this set of issues and look forward to working with the commission to address the remaining legacy regulations at issue in the USTelecom forbearance petition.”

The petition asks FCC to grant forbearance from certain unbundling and resale mandates, including access to copper network facilities and protections related to long-distance voice market, in order to facilitate investments in broadband and other next-generation networks.

CenturyLink is a member of USTelecom.