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

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 t ...

. They are the parts of the

telecommunications network A telecommunications network is a group of 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 switching, message ...

that the incumbent local exchange carriers (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 common ...

that connects to a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM), a voice switch or both. The loop allows non-facilities-based

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

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

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) 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 pinkis ...

wire,

optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...

, and

coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ) is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, with the two separated by a dielectric ( insulating material); many coaxial cables also have a p ...

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 In the United States, it is a governing body of a utility. In Canada, it is a utility, not a regulatory body. Canada In Canada, a public utilities commission (PUC) is a public utility owned and operated by a municipal or local government under t ...

to deliver services.

Availability

sections 251(c)(3), incumbent local exchange carriers (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.http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/2001/fcc01026.pdf However, both the UNE Remand Order and the Line Sharing Orders were remanded by the

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

in ''United States Telecom Association v. FCC'' (290 F.3d 415), decided on May 24, 2002; the Line Sharing Orders were

vacated A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. ...

. 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