Much like a CPA’s busy tax season, the telecommunication industry’s “access filing season” is upon us. And CCMI is actively monitoring the volume of filings and collecting transmittal and tariff updates in our online rate document library.

Oral arguments in the court case challenging the FCC’s Report and Order (FCC Docket 10-90) reforming the intercarrier compensation system are scheduled for November 19, 2013, at the Denver Circuit Court. There are two major points of contention. First, does the FCC have the right to usurp the individual states rate-making authority? And second, does the Commission have the legal authority to create the Connect America Fund with dollars from the proposed Fund going to broadband providers despite the fact that broadband is not one of the USF mandated services under Section 254 of the 1996 Telecom Act? And while predicting the outcome, is at this point, a fool’s errand, some industry insiders believe hearing the case in Denver – rather than at the D.C. Circuit, which traditionally rules on communication policy – may tilt the deck slightly in favor of the FCC’s position.

Telco Access Alert is a regular update of new and ongoing telecommunications regulatory proceedings at the state and federal levels.

Interstate Access Charge Proceedings for February 2013

Compiled by Andrew Regitsky, President, Regitsky & Associates

WC Docket No. 13-39 – FCC Initiates Proceeding to Address Call Completion Issues

Telco Access Alert is a regular update of new and ongoing telecommunications regulatory proceedings at the state and federal levels.

Intrastate Access Charge Proceedings for February 2013

For a complete list of previous intrastate access charge proceedings, view this PDF.

In response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Order on the issue of special access rate regulation, CCMI has created a taskforce to help impacted corporations meet the requirements of the federal mandate.

[UPDATE: The recording of this webinar is now available here. The links below have also been updated to point to the new page. -MC]

Telco Access Alert is a regular update of new and ongoing telecommunications regulatory proceedings at the state and federal levels.

Interstate Access Charge Proceedings for January 2013

Compiled by Andrew Regitsky, President, Regitsky & Associates

FCC Docket No. 10-90 – Major Carrier Dispute for 2013 – When Can CLECs Assess End Office Local Switching Charges

The disagreement between AT&T on one side and Level 3 and Bandwidth.com on the other is heating up at the FCC. The dispute involves whether AT&T must pay switched access local switching charges to these CLECs for calls in which the CLECs partner with “over-the-top” VoIP providers to route calls over the public Internet to the VoIP provider’s end users. This is a very significant case, not just because the money involved is considerable, but  ...

Docket 10-90 – As a Formal Proceeding Begins, CLECs Attack AT&T’s Petition Requesting the FCC to Mandate the Retirement of All TDM-Based Services/Networks and Transition to an IP-Based Network

In the opening skirmish in what may be the most contentious proceeding in 2013, CLECs Cbeyond, Earthlink, Integra Telecom and Time Warner Telecom (“the CLECs”) have filed a response to the 2012 AT&T petition that requested the Commission to initiate a proceeding to develop a course of action to eliminate ...

Docket 06-122 - Carriers Protest the Commission’s Clarified Reseller Rules for Universal Service Contributions

TelePacific has filed a Petition seeking partial reconsideration of the November 5, 2012, FCC Order in Docket 06-122 clarifying how the universal service rules apply to wholesale providers and their customers. In that Order, the Commission clarified that “reseller” certification is required on ...

Read the complete text of the FCC updates here (a PDF will open).

Every once in a while, it pays to dismiss – or at least discount – policy arguments and look at the cold, hard facts. So, while the FCC’s interminable deliberations on Universal Service Fund (USF) reform continue consider this: in just under 10 years, the USF contribution rate has doubled. That’s right, doubled.

In the fourth quarter of 2003, the USF contribution rate was 8.7% – a number that at the time seemed extraordinarily high.  In the fourth quarter of 2012, the USF contribution rate hit 17.4% – a 100% increase from 2003!

Telco Access Alert is a regular update of new and ongoing telecommunications regulatory proceedings at the state and federal levels.

Intrastate Access Charge Proceedings for January 2013

Alaska – Change to Alaska Universal Service Fund (AUSF), Case No. TA15-998, approved November 30, 2012.
http://rca.alaska.gov/RCAWeb/Orders/OrderDetails.aspx?id=0ae7673f-5594-4b63-bbe8-7d15067c2b11

Effective January 1, 2013, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska approved a rate of 9.3% for the Alaska Universal Service Fund. This is a decrease of 0.2% from the AUSF rate for 2012, but more than the originally proposed rate of 8.5%.

Arizona – Change to Arizona Universal Service Fund (AUSF), Docket R-00000H-97-0137, and Decision 73626, approved December 12, 2012.
http://edocket.azcc.gov/Default.aspx?SEARCH=RT-00000H-97-0137

Effective January 1, 2013, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved increases to the Arizona Universal Service Fund. Category One providers will have a surcharge of $0.010456 per access line and $0.104569 per interconnecting trunk line applied to their offerings. These figures represent an increase over the 2012 rate of $0.0009524 per access line and $0.095241 per interconnecting trunk line. In addition, Category Two providers will have a surcharge of 0.3762 percent applied to all intrastate toll revenues. This represents an increase over the 2012 surcharge of 0.3275 percent.

For a complete list of previous intrastate access charge proceedings, view this PDF.

A great way to stay up-to-date on tariff activity at the state and federal level is with a free subscription to CCMI's Tariff Transmittal Alert. Delivered via email, this listing includes all interstate and intrastate tariff and public disclosure transmittals processed by CCMI’s analysts each business day. Click here to see a sample Alert.

Telco Access Alert is a regular update of new and ongoing telecommunications regulatory proceedings at the state and federal levels.

FCC / INTERSTATE ACCESS CHARGE PROCEEDINGS