CommLaw Monitor
Now on Deck: Carrier Asks FCC to Preempt Pennsylvania PUC VoIP Decision
The VoIP jurisdictional saga continues. Last month, we discussed a decision by the Pennsylvania PUC asserting jurisdiction over intrastate Voice over IP calls and a decision by a US District Court reaching the opposite…
Pennsylvania PUC Claims Jurisdiction over VoIP Access Charges
In a February 11, 2010 ruling in Palmerton Telephone Company v. Global NAPs South, Docket No. C-2009-2093336, the Pennsylvania PUC concluded that Global NAPs is required to pay intrastate access charges for…
Congress Investigates Rural LEC "Traffic Pumping"
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has sent a February 16, 2010 letter to 24 rural local exchange carriers seeking information about their access charge services. The 24 carriers receiving the letters were…
Federal Court Rules that VoIP Need Not Pay Access Charges
The U.S. District Court in D.C. ruled today that IP-originated calls are "information services" that are subject to the local reciprocal compensation scheme - and not access charges - for intercarrier compensation. The…
FCC Petitioned in Access Charge Litigation
Beehive Telephone has Petitioned the FCC for a declaratory ruling in an effort to salvage a lawsuit that Beehive brought against Sprint in federal court for collection of access charges. According to the Petition,…