Unbundled network elements (UNEs) are a requirement mandated by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Telecommunications Act of 1996 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of ...

. They are the parts of the

telecommunications network A telecommunications network is a group of Node (networking), nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit ...

that the

incumbent local exchange carrier An incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) is a local telephone company which held the regional monopoly on landline service before the market was opened to competitive local exchange carriers, or the corporate successor of such a firm, in the Un ...

s (ILECs) are required to offer on an unbundled basis. Together, these parts make up a

local loop In telephony, the local loop (also referred to as the local tail, subscriber line, or in the aggregate as the last mile) is the physical link or circuit that connects from the demarcation point of the customer premises to the edge of the co ...

that connects to a

digital subscriber line access multiplexer A digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM, often pronounced ''DEE-slam'') is a network device, often located in telephone exchanges, that connects multiple customer digital subscriber line (DSL) interfaces to a high-speed digital co ...

(DSLAM), a voice switch or both. The loop allows non-facilities-based

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s providers to deliver service without having to lay network infrastructure such as

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

wire,

optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

, and

coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ), is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner Electrical conductor, conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting Electromagnetic shielding, shield, with the two separated by a dielectric (Insulat ...

UNE-Platform

A UNE-Platform (or UNE-P) is a combination of UNEs that allow end-to-end service delivery without any facilities. Despite not involving any CLEC facilities, a UNE-P still requires facilities-based certification from the

Public Utilities Commission A public utilities commission is a quasi-governmental body that provides oversight and/or regulation of public utility, public utilities in a particular area (locality, municipality, or Administrative division, subnational division), especially in ...

to deliver services.

Availability

sections 251(c)(3), incumbent

local exchange carrier Local exchange carrier (LEC) is a regulatory term in telecommunications for the local telephone company. In the United States, wireline telephone companies are divided into two large categories: long-distance ( interexchange carrier, or IXCs) ...

s (LECs) are required to lease certain parts of their network specified by the FCC or by state PUCs. According to section 252(d)(1), these

network element In computer networks, a network element is a manageable logical entity uniting one or more physical devices. This allows distributed devices to be managed in a unified way using one management system. According to the Telecommunications Act of 1 ...

s must be provided on an unbundled basis at cost-based rates.

FCC orders

In the UNE Remand Order issued on November 5, 1999, the FCC specified the UNE to which a competitor must be provided access: "the 'loops' that connect the switches to end users, including high-capacity loops; the switches (with some exceptions), the transport facilities between switches and other networks, and the software needed to operate the telephone network". In the Line Sharing Orders (Line Sharing Order, 14 FCC Rcd at 20951), the LECs are required to unbundle the high-frequency portion of the loop of DSL. However, both the UNE Remand Order and the Line Sharing Orders were remanded by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in ''United States Telecom Association v. FCC'' (290 F.3d 415), decided on May 24, 2002; the Line Sharing Orders were vacated. The court concluded that the FCC had not considered the availability of competitive facilities on a sufficiently granular basis. The FCC eliminated mandatory DSL unbundling in 2003.

Prices

Based on the

, the FCC could require LECs to provide UNEs at a cost-based price, which may include a "reasonable profit". The FCC has determined that "cost" means forward-looking economic cost and has required the states to use a methodology called total element long-run incremental cost (TELRIC).

References

{{Reflist

External links