The US Federal Communications Commission has rejected a
petition from AT&T that would have allowed the company to avoid
paying its telecommunications competitors access charges on
telephone calls partly carried on IP networks.
The FCC decided that traditional telephone calls that start and
end on the public switched telephone network (PSTN), but are
carried part of the time on AT&T's internet backbone, are
classified as telecommunications service.
Those calls are subject to the access charges that are exchanged
when a telephone call made through one carrier ends on another
carrier's network.
AT&T had asked the FCC for clarification on whether these
phone calls should be classified as information services, like most
other internet-based traffic, and free from most FCC
regulation.
In February, the FCC decided that another voice over IP service,
Free World Dialup, was exempt from most telecommunications
regulations. The free service allows members to talk to each other
through software installed on their computers. The service does not
allow members to place voice calls to non-members.
However, the FCC said AT&T's service fit squarely into the
definitions of a telecommunications service because the phone calls
start and end on the PSTN.
"A straightforward application of existing law places the long
distance telephone service, as it is factually described by
AT&T, squarely in the category of a telecommunications
service," FCC chairman Michael Powell said.
A petition by Vonage Holdings is still pending before the FCC.
In Vonage's VoIP service, a customer uses an IP-enabled phone to
connect directly to the internet, but the calls may end on the
PSTN, depending on who the customer is calling.
Powell said he continued to believe most VoIP services should be
lightly regulated. "VoIP is clearly not your father's telephone
service. It represents a uniquely new form of communication that
promises to offer dramatic advances in the consumer
experience."
An AT&T official said he was disappointed with the FCC's
decision, claiming the decision protects the monopolies of the
incumbent local telephone carriers, often called the regional Bell
operating companies.
The Information Technology Association of America also
expressed disappointment over the FCC's decision, saying that the
commission needs to reform the access-charge rules so that some
VoIP suppliers are not treated differently from others.
Grant Gross writes for IDG News
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