Fcc Referees Dispute Over Free Conferencing Services

"On one hand large Telecom carriers complained that free conference calls and similar

voice services are a scam that take advantage of long-distance price regulations. From the other hand small providers of the services complained that the carriers have no right to block their customers' calls.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission stepped into the dispute, trying to give both sides something to cheer about.

According to the FCC decision large carriers cannot use the ""self-help"" measure of blocking calls without its permission. But the agency also said it was suspending the termination fees charged by 39 rural carriers due to ""substantial questions raised"" about the legality of the long-distance termination fees they collect.

In accordance with the legacy Telecom regulations, Telecom carriers must pay termination fees when their customers make a long-distance call to a telephone number controlled by a local exchange carrier (LEC). The termination fees vary greatly, from about US$0.01 to $0.13 per minute, with rural LECs generally collecting higher fees.

FreeConference.com and similar businesses make money by sending long-distance traffic to LECs with relatively high termination fees and splitting the termination fees with the LECs. Customers calling the service generally have to pay long-distance fees.

Other businesses using the same model include free voice mail services, sex chat lines and services that forward international calls.

The major carriers have complained because FreeConference offers a cheaper service than their own conferencing products. FreeConference complained to the FCC that AT&T and other carriers were violating the agency's common carrier rules by blocking calls from its customers. FreeConference continues to have problems with quality of service on telephone networks operated by major carriers.

Groups that advocate for net neutrality rules prohibiting large broadband carriers from blocking or slowing Internet traffic have also weighed in, saying the carriers' actions in this dispute show they're also capable of doing the same thing with Internet traffic they don't like. AT&T denies that it has blocked calls. The company has ""repeatedly provided evidence to the FCC that these unsupported claims are unfounded,"" an AT&T spokesman said.

Both sides claimed victory after FCC decision. With its investigation into the termination fees by 39 rural carriers, the FCC ""sent a strong signal that these traffic pumping scams are illegal and will not be permitted,"" AT&T said in a statement. Cory also praised the FCC decision, saying it was the ""strongest statement I've ever seen in print about the illegality ... of self-help actions"

by: Adrian Fisher

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