| [May 09, 2007] |
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Newly Formed Coalition for Carrier Neutrality Urges FCC to Tell AT&T and Other Call Blocking ''Bullies'' to Stop Spreading Myths Alleging ''Traffic Pumping''
WASHINGTON --(Business Wire)-- A group of more than 12 Rural LECs and conferencing providers have banded together to form The Coalition for Carrier Neutrality. The new Coalition was created to counteract the claims by AT&T and other large carriers that are using bullying tactics to distract from their accountability for over a month of call blocking that crippled Coalition members and their end customers. In parallel with the Coalition's efforts, AT&T has led a smear campaign to denigrate Coalition members and spin a series of myths surrounding what the telecommunication Goliath terms "traffic pumping."
"We are uniting to debunk the myths that the IXCs have been spreading as a smokescreen to deflect attention from their illegal call blocking and nonpayment of access fees to members of this Coalition," said Jonathan E. Canis with Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. "Our Coalition wants the FCC to intercede quickly and hold the carriers accountable for their patently illegal call blocking and nonpayment of access charges. The FCC has already rejected AT&T's arguments against Rural telcos three different times - it ruled that the type of conference calling generated by members of this Coalition is perfectly legal. In contrast, on three separate occasions, the FCC and the Iowa Utilities Board found that AT&T broke the law when it refused to pay access charges to smaller carriers. We urge the FCC to launch an investigation and impose fines for this outrageous behavior."
According to Canis, the Coalition is responding to exaggerations and fabrications regarding their service to Rural America and wants to dispel a series of myths that AT&T and the other carriers are pushing out to the FCC, legislators and others. With that in mind, the Coalition has developed a web site with background information, detailed descriptions of these myths as well as a section for LECs, conferencing providers, consumer advocates and other interested parties to join the fight - www.ccninfo.org.
According to the Coalition, below is a series of myths about this
matter, followed by the facts to debunk them:
1. MYTH: Rural LECs teaming with conference providers is "an illegal
traffic pumping scheme."
FACT: In three cases over the last six years, the FCC expressly
rejected AT&T complaints that raise the same issues AT&T is pushing
now, and has found that the type of conferencing services provided
by the Coalition members is perfectly legal.
2. MYTH: AT&T and other long distance carriers were blocking but have
now stopped.
FACT: Several of the conference calling Coalition members report
sporadic blocking of particular numbers. Previously no calls were
going through but now only 50% to 80% are completed. This indicates
"dirty tricks" in the routing of traffic that has the effect of
blocking some calls and degrading overall service. The Iowa
Utilities Board requires 97% call completion or higher as a
standard for acceptable phone service. Coalition members engineer
their networks based on this call completion rate and a 20% to 50%
drop does not occur by accident.
3. MYTH: Conference calling will cost AT&T $250 million in access
bills.
FACT: This number is completely unsupported and is based on
fabricated projections of "exponential growth" for rural LECs. In
truth, 7 of the Iowa LECs in the Coalition are suing AT&T to
collect their access charges. The total access bill for 7 LECs over
six months is approximately $20 million.
4. MYTH: All LECs are expanding beyond conferencing services and
offering numbers for adult chat lines.
FACT: FreeConferenceCall.com, one of the largest conferencing
providers in the country, boasts a conferencing customer base that
includes: 20,205 nonprofits, 7,342 universities, 1,292 government
users, and 349 military personnel -- 0 adult chat customers!
Coalition LECs do not actively solicit adult content providers, and
do not support use of conference calling for this purpose. All
local telephone companies provide numbers for conferencing, and
cannot dictate content. Some customers may use these conference
bridges for sexually oriented talk - this is why AT&T, Verizon,
and Qwest numbers power adult chat sites such as RedHotDateline,
LiveLinks, and TangoByPhone.
5. MYTH: Iowa LECs are exhausting the supply of available telephone
numbers.
FACT: Conference calling is not a number-intensive application.
When a conference number is used, all conferencing parties dial one
number. In contrast, cellular carriers use twice as many phone
numbers in Iowa as the local telcos.
"Our Coalition will be the 'mythbusters' and set the record straight once and for all - the bottom line is that the big long distance carriers believe cessation of blocking exonerates them from accountability for their actions -- it doesn't and, moreover, they haven't stopped." added Canis. "Instead, they've started using 'dirty tricks' such as routing selected numbers over trunks that are near or at exhaust in order to degrade the services provided by these Rural telcos - this makes an even more compelling argument for a formal investigation by the FCC."
The Coalition for Carrier Neutrality continues to appeal to members of Congress and the Senate -- especially those representing Iowa and other Rural states -- to require the IXCs to explain their actions.
About The Coalition for Carrier Neutrality
The Coalition for Carrier Neutrality is comprised of a group of ILECs, CLECs and conferencing providers that have been affected by the illegal call blocking and nonpayment of access fees by major IXCs including AT&T, Sprint/Nextel, Qwest, Verizon, and Embarq. The goal of this Coalition is to recoup the losses sustained by nonpayment of access fees by the IXCs so its businesses and partners can provide services to end customers (non-profit organizations, religious groups and small businesses) that rely on conferencing to power their operations. Members of The Coalition for Carrier Neutrality include: All American Telephone Company, Inc.; Arvig Communication Systems; Audiocom, LLC; Aventure Communications; Chase Com; e-Pinnacle Communications, Inc.; Farmers Telephone Company of Riceville, Iowa, Inc.; Free Conferencing Corporation of America; Great Lakes Communication Corporation; Interstate 35 Telephone Company; and Superior Telephone Cooperative. For more information on Coalition efforts, please visit www.ccninfo.org.
(C) 2007 The Coalition for Carrier Neutrality. All other marks are the property of their respective owners
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