Not your every day CLEC> Ameritech Corporation Pays Focal Communications for Internet Traffic
October 12, 1998 CHICAGO, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ via
NewsEdge Corporation -- Focal
Communications Corporation (Focal), a
competitive local exchange carrier
(CLEC), has received a payment of
more than $7 million from Ameritech
Corporation for reciprocal compensation
fees for Internet traffic. This
represents a full settlement of the
amounts in dispute.
"We are delighted that Ameritech finally
did the right thing and paid us the fees
that they owed us," said Robert Taylor,
Focal's president and chief executive
officer.
The dispute between Ameritech and
Focal was about whether calls to the
Internet should be treated as local calls
or long distance calls. Under the
interconnection agreement that
Ameritech forged with Focal, each
telecommunications company is
required to pay the other for local calls
which originate on one company's
network and terminate on the other
company's network. In its case before
the Federal District Court, Ameritech
argued that calls to the Internet are
long distance calls. In July of this year,
the Federal Court, making a decision in
line with 21 state regulatory
commissions, one State Court and two
other Federal Courts, determined that
Internet calls are local calls. The
Federal Judge stayed this decision for
35 days to allow parties to appeal. On
September 10th, the Seventh Circuit
Court of Appeals rejected Ameritech's
emergency motion for a stay pending
appeal of the Federal District Court's
decision. Attempts by Focal to collect
the owed money were stalled by
Ameritech until this week.
Focal Communications Corporation,
headquartered in Chicago, is providing
sophisticated telecommunications users
with facilities-based, switched local
telephone service. Focal currently
serves 13 MSAs (metropolitan
statistical areas), is under construction
in 21 MSAs and plans to reach a total
of 42 MSAs in ten metropolitan markets
by the end of 1999. The company is
privately held by several major
institutions and its employees. Focal
offers unique communication services
to major corporations, Internet Service
Providers and value-added resellers.
Focal is focused on providing customers
with the diversity, reliability and
sophistication that they demand.
Additional information is available on
Focal's web site at
focal.com |
