In an initial victory for paging carriers nationwide, the Federal Communications Commission’s Common Carrier Bureau announced its current rules do not allow local exchange carriers to charge paging carriers for delivering traffic over the LEC network.
Specifically, the bureau said its rules “do not allow a LEC to charge a provider of paging services for the cost of LEC transmission facilities that are used on a dedicated basis to deliver to paging service providers local telecommunications traffic that originates on the LEC’s network.”
The FCC’s decision caps a year of lobbying efforts by both LECs and paging providers, with the paging industry coming out as the apparent winner.
“This directive is a huge victory for the wireless industry and sends a clear message to those who flaunt the FCC’s rules,” said Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association, which had lobbied the FCC on behalf of the paging industry in this matter. “From day one, we said that certain LECs were wrong to continue to assess facilities charges despite the clear language of the commission’s rules … There are no more excuses for the LECs to drag their feet. These charges must end without delay.”
The dispute between paging providers and LECs stems from differing interpretations of FCC rule 51.703(b), which states a “LEC may not assess charges on any other telecommunications carrier for local telecommunications traffic that originates on the LEC’s network.”
Some LECs, such as Southwestern Bell Telephone, felt they were permitted to charge paging carriers to recover the costs of facilities used by LECs to deliver traffic to paging carriers. Their argument was that Section 51.703(b) refers to only the charges for traffic between carriers and not the charges for the facilities used to deliver that traffic.
When paging carriers protested the charges, citing the same rule as a defense, Southwestern Bell requested the FCC clarify its rules regarding the issue. Shortly after, paging carriers AirTouch Paging, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Paging Network Inc. formally requested the same.
That clarification, delivered Dec. 30, stated a “LEC must cease charging a CMRS (commercial mobile radio service) provider or other carrier for terminating LEC-originated traffic and must provide that traffic to the CMRS provider or other carrier without charge.”
As could be expected, paging carriers and others in the industry had nothing but praise for the decision.
“We think its an important interpretation,” said AirTouch Paging spokeswoman Kathy Reinhart. “We agree with the decision. It’s good for the entire paging industry.”
Vince Kelly, chief financial officer at Metrocall Inc., stated, “We at Metrocall are delighted at the Common Carrier Bureau’s directive because it reinforces what the Telecommunications Act of 1996 already said with regard to charging carriers like ourselves. We find it very helpful.”
“We think that it’s the right decision,” said Mike Broom, director of corporate communications at AT&T Wireless. “We think its a good news decision for the entire messaging industry.”
However, A. Richard Metzger, Jr., chief of the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau, noted that the issue is subject to pending petitions for reconsideration of the order and that the FCC will continue to consider the issue “based on the record developed in response to those petitions.”
PCIA wanted to have this particular matter solved before the end of the year, and said the organization is pleased with the result. However, Metzger’s note hints that interconnection issues are in no way off the agenda for 1998 and PCIA said it has no plans to quit the fight just yet.
“We look forward to working with the new FCC team to complete a sound interconnection policy that will benefit the wireless industry,” Kitchen said.
