WASHINGTON-Rural wireline carriers can no longer file tariffs with state commissions that charge wireless carriers to terminate calls, said the Federal Communications Commission Thursday, but did not say the termination tariffs were unlawful as requested by a group of carriers.
“Because the existing rules do not explicitly preclude tariffed compensation arrangements, we find that incumbent local exchange carriers were not prohibited from filing state termination tariffs, and commercial mobile radio service providers were obligated to accept the terms of applicable state tariffs. Going forward, however, we amend our rules to make clear our preference for contractual arrangements by prohibiting LECs from imposing compensation obligations for non-access CMRS traffic pursuant to tariff. In addition, we amend our rules to clarify that an ILEC may request interconnection from a CMRS provider and invoke the negotiation and arbitration procedures set forth in the Telecommunications Act of 1996,” said the FCC.
T-Mobile USA Inc., Western Wireless Corp., Nextel Communications Inc. and Nextel Partners Inc. asked the FCC in September 2002 to overturn the spate of wireless termination tariffs that had begun cropping up around the country. The commission combined the issue with an ongoing proceeding related to intercarrier compensation-the money paid by carriers to terminate each other’s traffic. The T-Mobile issue had been expected to be decided at the FCC’s Feb. 10 open meeting, but wasn’t. At the open meeting, the FCC again asked the industry to comment on what reforms should be made to the intercarrier-compensation regime.
“We are pleased that the FCC has acted to eliminate the use of harmful and discriminatory wireless termination tariffs and to require that ILECs have an obligation to negotiate interconnection agreements in good faith. This has been a long-standing issue that has harmed consumers and impeded wireless carriers’ ability to serve rural markets,” said Haidee Schwartz, T-Mobile spokeswoman.
