Ray,
You may want to see:
fcc.gov
THE FCC, INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS, AND ACCESS CHARGES
This fact sheet offers informal guidance on an issue that has generated a great deal of public interest. For more specific details about the proceedings currently before the Commission, please visit our web site (http://www.fcc.gov/).
In December 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requested public comment on issues relating to the charges that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and similar companies pay to local telephone companies. On May 7,
1997, the FCC decided to leave the existing rate structure in place. In other words, the FCC decided not to allow local telephone companies to impose per-minute access charged on ISPs.
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Please Note: There is no open comment period in this proceeding. If you have recently seen a message on the Internet stating that in response to a request from local telephone companies, the FCC is requesting comments to
<isp@fcc.gov> by February 1998, be aware that this information is inaccurate.
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The FCC issued an unrelated public notice, DA 98-2, on January 5, 1998 in connection with a report to Congress on universal service. Pursuant to the FCC's 1998 appropriations legislation, the Commission must submit a report by
April 10, 1998 on several issues including the legal status of Internet services under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Comments in response to the public notice are due January 20, 1998, and reply comments are due February 2,
1998. Informal comments may be sent by email to <usreport@fcc.gov>.
Background Information
Each long distance telephone call you make includes per-minute fees that your long distance carrier pays to the originating and terminating local telephone companies over whose facilities that call also travelled. Those fees, which are
designed to recover the costs to local telephone companies for use of their facilities, are referred to as "access charges."
As part of its Access Reform proceeding, CC Docket 96-262, the FCC in December 1996 sought comment on the treatment of ISPs and other "enhanced service providers" that also use local telephone companies' facilities. Since the access
charge system was established in 1983, enhanced service providers have been classified as "end users" rather than "carriers" for purposes of the access charge rules, and therefore they do not pay the per-minute access charges that
long-distance companies pay to local telephone companies.
In the Access Reform Order, FCC 97-158, adopted on May 7, 1997, the FCC concluded that the existing rate structure for ISPs should remain in place. In other words, the Commission reaffirmed that ISPs are not required to pay
interstate access charges.
When it began the Access Reform proceeding, the Commission also issued a Notice of Inquiry, CC Docket 96-263, seeking comment more broadly on usage of the public switched telephone network by Internet and interstate information
service providers. A Notice of Inquiry is a request for information that does not involve any specific proposed action. The Commission stated in the Access Reform order that it intended to use the Notice of Inquiry record to develop a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing actions to facilitate the efficient deployment of data networks.
I hope this helps. |
