Telcos now open to FreeConference.com calls, firm says

A free conference calling service says that Sprint Nextel Corp. has stopped blocking calls to its numbers, a move that comes after FreeConference.com urged its customers to make an outcry.
Now, FreeConference.com says that the major U.S. telcos who were blocking its service-including Sprint Nextel, AT&T Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc.-have stopped blocking access to its service numbers. The service allows users to avoid the fees charged by large conference service providers and carriers.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Federal Communications Commission had received more than 1,000 complaints about the call blocking, and that all major carriers had agreed not to block the services for now.
AT&T and Qwest had filed suit against companies such as FreeConference.com, free international calling companies and rural telephone companies that reap access fees by providing free conference calls, international calling or other services such as adult chat. The telcos said in court filings that the services were costing them millions of dollars in access and termination fees due to the “traffic pumping.”
However, FreeConference.com claims it is driving new revenues to the carriers.
“Blocking access to these services is illegal and unconscionable,” said Alex Cory, CEO of Global Conference Partners, which is the parent company of FreeConference.com. “We’re driving millions of dollars in revenue to the carriers through services like FreeConference. For them to illegally block these calls and to argue they are losing money is ridiculous. In fact, carriers, rural telephone companies and FreeConference have been using this model for years with everyone benefiting.”
Executives from Sprint Nextel, AT&T and Qwest were not immediately available for comment.