Industry Coalition Urges FCC to Reform Intercarrier Compensation

A broad coalition of technology, telecommunications and wireless companies and trade associations is supporting the Federal Communications Commission's effort to enact comprehensive reform of the nation's intercarrier compensation system. In a letter filed with the FCC, the group urges commissioners to "focus on policies that will help spur the continued evolution to more advanced IP and broadband networks," and commended the agency for its plan to complete the task by November. The filing suggests that the first step in the reform process should be to "clarify the regulatory requirements associated with the fastest growing segment of the communications industry - Internet Protocol-based technologies and services." The coalition also urges the agency to issue two rulings to clarify that all IP-based voice services, if regulated at all, are subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction, and to establish uniform compensation rules applicable to all traffic exchanged with or on the public switched telephone network. The letter is signed by AT&T, CompTIA, CTIA, Global Crossing, the Information Technology Industry Council, National Association of Manufacturers, New Global Telecom, PointOne, Sprint Nextel Corp., the Telecommunications Industry Association, T-Mobile, Verizon and VON Coalition.