US telecoms group AT&T has accused Google of benefiting
from an unfair competitive advantage by ducking federal
communication rules.
AT&T alledges that Google is not playing by the same rules
as its competitors by claiming that its
Google Voice IP telephony is not a traditional phone service,
according to
US reports.
This is enabling Google to block calls to rural areas to save
access costs, which competitors bound by a 2007 Federal
Communication Commission (FCC) ruling are prohibited from
doing.
AT&T has set out its objections to Google's practices in a
in a strongly worded letter to the FCC's competition bureau,
accusing Google of openly flaunting the call blocking
prohibition.
The telecoms group has called on the FCC to ensure that any new
rules are applied not just to network operators but also providers
of internet applications, content and services.
Anything less would be ineffective, legally suspect and, in all
events, a direct repudiation of US President Obama's call for a
'level playing field,' said Robert Quinn, a senior vice president
at AT&T.
Google has admitted to the blocking practice, but insists that
Google Voice is a free, Web-based software application, which means
it is not subject to common carrier laws.
"Google Voice
is not intended to be a replacement for traditional phone service,"
said Richard Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel
in a
blog
post.
Users of Google Voice are still able to make outbound calls on
any other phone device, he said.
" AT&T is trying to make this about Google's support for an
open Internet, but the comparison just doesn't fly," Whitt
wrote.
The FCC's open Internet principles apply only to the behavior of
broadband carriers, not the creators of Web-based software
applications, he said.
Whitt accused AT&T of trying to use the regulatory process
to undermine Web-based competition and innovation.