In regards to the various viewpoints being expressed in this proceeding, it's hard to overlook the irony of it: many of the large telephone companies often cite a decline in customers to justify deregulation, and attempt to portray their infrastructure as decrepit and no longer useful.

Many of their customers, inversely, are fighting tooth and nail to be able to retain their service, saying for various reasons it is unique as it is irreplaceably valauble. While operating company practices are generally not discussed, complaints of ever-rising prices, and attempts to bundle undesirably expensive and unmaintained internet service occasionally percolate.

Perhaps, optimistic as it is, in order for both parties to get what they want - for operating companies to stop the general decline in customers and for their customers to be able to keep their service, it would be more constructive for parties on both sides to meet and try to work together on regaining customers outside of a regulatory hearing? AT&T's tech transition trials were designed to give subscribers and operating companies alike a rough idea of what a transition might look like. AT&T's filings during these trials seemed to indicate an abnormally high level of customer loss; a situation where clearly nobody wins.