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-- do you hear a rip (off) Calling Cell Phones Could Cost More
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 13:44:35 -0400
------ Forwarded Message From: Chris Savage <chris.savage () crblaw com> Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 10:51:58 -0400 To: dave () farber net Subject: RE: <[IP]> Calling Cell Phones Could Cost More Dave,
From the perspective of someone who lives the telecom competition wars every
day, this is just more ILEC monopoly power at work. The FCC said in August 96 that it was illegal under the '96 Act for one local network (wireless is considered local for these purposes) to charge another for the privilege of receiving calls. Since long before that time wireless had interconnected with landline using a single connection point per LATA. All calls from within the LATA to a wireless phone connected this way ("Type IIA," for the cognoscenti) were free to the caller. But the wireless carriers had previously been forced to pay coming and going, like long distance, so the new rule was a revenue hit to the landline companies. So the landline companies responded with what amounts to extortion of the wireless: either you pay me to receive calls anyway, despite the FCC, or I'll start charging my landline customers toll rates to call your customers. "Nice little wireless business you've got there. It'd be a shame if anything happened to it..." In a truly stupid, anticompetitive decision called "TSR Wireless" released late in 2001, the FCC -- despite having long since declared thate wireless "local" areas were as big as an entire MTA -- said that it did not violate the '96 Act for landline companies to impose these charges. I'll spare you the cost/economic analysis that shows that this is nonsense from the perspective of the landline companies' network costs. It now appears that some wireless companies are refusing to cave in to the extortion, which means calls to wireless numbers will in some cases be toll when they were not before. Chris Savage ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- -- do you hear a rip (off) Calling Cell Phones Could Cost More Dave Farber (Oct 19)