The end of TELRIC

A US appeals court has struck down the telecommunications law that required incumbent local telephone carriers to let others use their facilities at cheap rates (calculated under a formula known as TELRIC).

Undoubtedly you will hear people claim that this as a terrible sell-out to Big Telco, but I think it is a good move. This law meant that new phone companies did not have to bother with investing in new equipment, and old phone companies would not bother upgrading their old equipment. This hurts consumers. With new forms of local telecommunication (the mobile phone, VoIP) established or taking hold, it was high time that the courts dropped this antiquated, harmful rule.