I’d love to be able to point our efforts and membership toward this if we can ‘do something’. First, I need to make sure we’re in an active ‘fight’ per se.

The most recent report I have is out of North Carolina. Anyone have anything more????

Thanks!

Note:  Wow, this could blow up into a big fight.  Om Malik sent in this breaking news written by Paul K.  FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursday that the commission told large telcos to stop blocking calls into numbers for the……

Last Tuesday an FCC spokesman made clear that blocking calls was forbidden, (calls are now flowing again) so it now comes down to recip comp money.

Will the local carriers be paid by ATT (et al) for monies owed and will they continued to be paid for future calls?

It seems the Iowa companies have made a pretty strong case for getting paid for calls made to, and terminating in Iowa. (Conference Calling)

The made a weaker case when calls are routed thru the Iowa companies and then sent elsewhere (ie) free international calling.

If the Iowa telcos win at the FCC, they will press for immediate payment, plus fines, plus interest, plus attorney fees. If they lose, they probably will not appeal.

If ATT (et al) lose at the FCC they have an interesting decision to make.

IF, they appeal the decision to the Federal Court —and they lose there— (likely since the Federal Courts usually defer to the govt.) ATT (et al) would be stuck paying high recip comp rates permanently.

If so, look for hundreds of the services to sprout. A true nightmare for the major carriers.

Right now neither side is ready to blink, which is dangerous for both sides.

Both sides made offers to each other to settle the issue, but they were not even in the same “state” never mind the same “ball park”

Possible Solutions:
IF, the local telcos were to accept payment ONLY for calls that terminated in Iowa, and were not routed overseas, perhaps ATT (et al) would ante up the money they owe.

But if the local telcos insists on every last dime, ATT (et al) may just sit tight and try to wait them out.

Either way, the local telcos did nothing illegal.
They read the tariff and went about their business.

ATT (et al) never, in their wildest dreams thought a few local telcos in Iowa would beat the giant carriers.

And with first quarter profits collectively over several-BILLION dollars, its hard to feel empathy for the giant telcos.
The amount of money they owe the local telcos is probably the amount of money they spend on “entertainment expenses” every year.

Perhaps the BEST solution would be for the giant carriers to point out to their customers, that in their TOS, the giant carriers CAN BLOCK calls due to excessive use. (in unlimited plans only)

When a customer exceeds 6,000 minutes per month to a certain number, the carrier can block access to the number and/or cancel the account.

Of course it is far more expensive to block individual customers than to prevent ALL customers from dialing a specific phone number.

I would bet the FCC will choose this route as an interim solution, with an eye toward examining the entire recip comp structure at a future date.

The FCC chairman has made it clear reexamining this issue is a priority.

So for the Iowa telcos, “let the good times roll, while they last!”