FCC may seek fees on Internet long distance calls
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission is considering levying fees paid by ordinary
long distance firms on the new breed of provider offering traditional telephony service over the Internet, people familiar with the
plan said.
If approved by the five-member commission, the plan could put a crimp in the strategy of firms, such as Qwest Communications
International Inc (QWST - news) and IDT Corp (IDTC - news), that want to offer Internet long distance service at rates as low
as 5 cents per minute. AT&T Corp (T - news) has also announced plans to offer a similar service.
Ordinary long distance firms are required by the FCC to pay local phone companies per-minute charges on every call as well as
monthly per-subscriber fees. The local phone companies use the money in part to support universal service, subsidizing the cost
of local service for people in rural and low-income areas.
But the FCC has exempted Internet service providers from paying so-called access charges to support universal service.
That seemingly opened an opportunity for lower-priced long distance service if calls were carried by an ISP instead of an
ordinary long distance network.
At first, Internet telephony relied on consumers using their computers with modems to make such calls. But the new breed of
services plan to allow consumers to use an ordinary telephone to make Internet long distance voice calls, although some extra
digits would have to be dialed.
The situation caught the attention of FCC policymakers, who were already reviewing the ISP access charge exemption for a
report requested by Congress and due April 10. Lawmakers from states highly dependent on access charges, led by Alaska
Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, are opposed to the ISP exemption, and demanded the FCC justify the policy in the report.
The preliminary report, which has not been approved by the five commissioners yet, recommends closing the loophole by
assessing access charges on long distance calls made telephone to telephone regardless of the type of network used to carry the
call.
The report does not recommend revoking the ISP exemption or ''taxing the Internet,'' as some had feared, people familiar with
the report said. |
