The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has outlined actions to speed up the transition from legacy copper networks to modern network infrastructure.

According to the regulator, the actions will help ensure that network providers can roll out upgraded, high-speed networks to Americans faster.

The FCC also said its proposals aim to stop requiring providers to "keep pouring resources into maintaining decades-old and increasingly expensive copper line networks."

FCC Chair Brendan Carr noted that the actions will help save billions of dollars for new networks that would have otherwise been spent on prolonging the life of copper.

“Outdated FCC rules have left Americans sitting in the slow lane for far too long,” Carr stated. “Those FCC rules have forced providers to pour resources into maintaining aging and expensive copper line networks instead of investing in the modern, high-speed infrastructure that Americans want and deserve.

"We are streamlining the process for retiring decades-old copper networks so that providers can transition consumers and their resources to new, high-speed networks on a faster timeline. We do so by clearing some of the regulatory underbrush that needlessly delays the retirement of those copper networks."

The actions were announced a week after Carr and the FCC unveiled its 'Delete, Delete, Delete,' scheme which seeks to cut the amount of regulation imposed across the telecoms, media, and tech sectors.

"This initial set of actions gets things moving in the right direction and creates the right incentives for providers to invest and build new networks in communities across the country. As we take these actions, we are also ensuring that consumers remain protected during the transition," added Carr.

Through the Wireline Competition Bureau, the FCC plans to adopt a clarification that will enable providers to use streamlined procedures more often when they apply to discontinue copper lines.

On top of this, the actions seek to implement a waiver that allows providers to retire copper networks, not only in cases where replacement voice services are available on a stand-alone basis, but also in cases where those services are available on a bundled basis. The FCC’s pro-consumer pricing protections will remain in place.

Other actions include an order that "waives unnecessary requirements that kicked in whenever a provider “grandfathered” a legacy service—meaning, they stopped offering it to new customers.

The final action looks to waive "costly and excessive notice requirements" in cases where they provide no demonstrable benefit. Over the past two years, the FCC notes that it has processed more than 400 network change disclosure filings, and not once has the FCC received a comment in opposition.

US telco AT&T has been vocal about its own plans to retire its legacy copper network by 2029 and is amid a major fiber build-out across the US. In January, the carrier agreed to sell a portfolio of Central Offices in an $850 million sale-leaseback deal involving more than 70 properties across the US.