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Strategies & Market Trends : Three Amigos Stock Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Phil Jacobson who wrote (8745)	9/13/1998 8:52:00 PM
From: Phil Jacobson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29382

Some interesting VoIP news - US West to charge for completing voice calls over the Internet. Just came out today...again, the actual voice of the public internet part of this is really hairy. ----------------------------- 'Net call access charge on way By The Denver Post Staff and Wire Reports Sept. 12 - US West Communications said it has started notifying companies that provide long-distance phone service over the Internet that it will begin charging an access fee for completing their calls. The Denver-based company, which provides local phone service in 14 states, is the second Baby Bell to start charging fees. On Sept. 2, Atlanta-based BellSouth notified six unnamed companies that have advertised Internet phone service that it will begin charging the access fees immediately. Traditional long-distance companies, like AT&T Corp. and MCI Communications Corp., are required by federal regulators to pay a per-minute access fee to the local phone companies for beginning and completing every call. However, new companies like Qwest Communications, Rocky Mountain Internet and ICG Communications Inc. that are offering longdistance service via the Internet or a closed network using so-called Internet protocol technology haven't had to pay those same fees. Qwest, RMI and ICG are all based in the Denver area. U S West sent letters to vendors Friday and notified many of them by telephone, said spokeswoman Emily Harrison. It's not clear when the access fees will take effect, she said, but it should be within the next two months. "These companies should pay their fair share,'' said Mark Roellig, executive vice president at US West. "All companies using the local network to complete long-distance calls are required to pay these fees, regardless of the technology they use to complete the calls.'' ICG Communications, however, said it does not agree with the decision to impose access charges on IP telephony calls. "This is wrong legally,'' said spokeswoman Heathere Evans, adding that the Baby Bells are doing this to maintain their monopoly in local markets. Much of the incentive for consumers to use longdistance services that carry calls over the Internet is their lower cost. ICG, for example, charges 5.9 cents per minute for calls that begin and end on its network, and 8.9 cents per minute for calls that end on another network. Evans said the company is not sure if the Baby Bells' charges would increase those rates. But if ICG's costs go up, it is possible the rates will go up too. "Ultimately, the consumer loses that battle,'' she said. Traditional long-distance providers usually offer discounted rates of about 10 cents a minute during limited hours. A Qwest spokeswoman said the company is reviewing the situation. In April, the Federal Communications Commission reported to Congress that calls made from one phone to another, even if they're transmitted over the Internet, should be subject to the access fees. Because of the fast-changing nature of the technology, the FCC said it wouldn't make a blanket decision. Instead, it will decide on a case-by-case basis which company must pay once a complaint is filed at the agency. US West's Harrison said the company does not need approval from the FCC for the fees because FCC regulations already give it the authority to levy the charges. Without paying, she said, the Internet phone providers are "exploiting a regulatory loophole.'' Internet phone calls travel over the Internet global network at a fraction of the cost of traditional calls. With so-called Internet protocol, or IP technology, a phone call is broken into several "packets'' of information, sent over multiple routes and reassembled at its destination. Traditional circuit-switched phone services use a single line for the duration of the call, making it more expensive for phone companies.