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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1298)	9/14/1998 8:56:00 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3178

ICG Takes On BellSouth Over Internet Access Fees September 14, 1998 ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO, U.S.A., Newsbytes via NewsEdge Corporation : ICG Netcom, the national Internet service provider (ISP),has announced plans to fight BellSouth's [NYSE:BLS] plans to charge access fees for Internet telephony calls that end up on the Bell operating company's network. As reported previously by Newsbytes, BellSouth has announced plans to charge ISPs for calls that terminate on its local loop systems. The situation is particularly fraught for ICG, as its Netcom ISP operation has recently announced plans to offer a Net telephony service in most metro areas across the US. Last month, when ICG Netcom unveiled its plans, ICG said it was pitching for domestic long distance within the US, rather than the obvious international phone market. In addition, the company, which describes itself as an integrated communications carrier (ICC), launched its service in 31 cities from late August, with plans to service 166 cities -- spanning 90 percent of phone users across the US -- by the end of the year. By the end of this year, Newsbytes notes, assuming the rollout goes to plan, the IP telephony operator will be the largest operator of its type in the US marketplace. With charges of 5.9 cents a minute for calls routed across its IP telephony service, the company anticipates significant revenue. The problem for ICG, however, Newsbytes notes, is that, if it has to pay BellSouth an access fee for terminating calls on its service areas, then profits become almost non-existent. Perhaps more importantly for the company, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has indicated that such termination fees -- which are analogous to existing long distance termination fees -- are likely to be permissible. The stakes are extremely high, Newsbytes notes. At the moment, less than 1 percent of domestic and international calls are routed across the Internet, but various studies predict that this figure will skyrocket, as carrier costs are around 40 percent less for such calls. Put simply, carriers can continue existing profit margins for Internet telephony calls, yet keep prices up to 40 percent less than conventional voice calls. According to Cindy Schonhaut, ICG's senior vice president responsible for government affairs, the company has no plans to pay the BellSouth access fees, and is considering various legal options if BellSouth attempts to charge the firm such fees. For the time being, while the FCC has indicated that such access fees are permissible, its officials are fighting shy of inflaming the situation. Calls to the FCC press office were not returned at deadline and other news agencies quote the FCC as saying in a statement that it "has not made any definitive or categorical decision about which Internet telephone services may be telecommunications services. The commission will consider these issues case by case." BellSouth's Web site is at bellsouth.com . ICG Netcom's Web site is at netcom.com . Reported by Newsbytes News Network, newsbytes.com . (19980911/Press Contact: FCC Press Office 202-418-0253; Lance Thomas, ICG Netcom 303-414-5411/WIRES TELECOM, LEGAL, ONLINE/)