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IP: FCC MAY CHANGE THE RULES ON INTERNET CALLS from Edupage
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 17:33:13 -0500
The Federal Communications Commission is leaning toward a decision that would make telephone connections between PCs and Internet service providers more like long distance calls, and therefore subject to the agency's jurisdiction. If a majority of the commission's five members opt for this approach, the "reciprocal compensation" agreements between the regional Bell companies and new local carriers serving ISPs will expire or be greatly reduced. Under the current arrangement, companies must pay each other a small fee for completing the local calls of each other's customers, but not for long distance calls. New carriers have turned these arrangements to their advantage by serving the modem banks of ISPs, which receive thousands of calls but never make any. "The current reciprocal compensation gravy train is running out of track," says an industry analyst with Legg Mason Precursor Group. "This may come as a surprise to some people, but they were in denial." (Reuters 29 Oct 98)
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- IP: FCC MAY CHANGE THE RULES ON INTERNET CALLS from Edupage Dave Farber (Oct 29)