FCC testing next-gen telephone network

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission approved a program of trials designed to study the effects of shifting consumers onto high-capacity, fiber optic phone network infrastructures.

The concept would be able to carry advanced services like high-definition voice calls and video, according to the Washington Post.

Calls would be routed using the same Internet Protocol that powers the Web.

"Testing big ideas in a small way is a good way to understand the consequences of our policy choices and the impact on consumers before unleashing them on the world at large," FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told the Washington Post.

Projects announced so far include an experiment to test whether emergency services will be disrupted by the IP transition, and how the changes could more easily provide broadband to rural areas.

More than a third of adults use cellphones as their only form of phone service, up from 5 percent a decade ago.

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