In article <telecom24.73.20@telecom-digest.org>, johnl@iecc.com says...
>> As to the CLEC settlement rules, the Bells didn't write them; the FCC
>> initially gave the CLECs what they asked for, but when it turned out
>> the CLECs had played the FCC for a fool and were engaging in
>> gamesmanship (e.g., signing up ISPs with no outgoing minutes and
>> massive incoming minutes), it reversed course as to their internet
>> terminations. For everything else, the CLECs have made out just fine.
> Uh, negatory on that. The Bells wanted high recip comp per minute
> rates because they expected that the traffic would mostly be toward
> them, like it was from cell phones. The CLECs, not being totally
> stupid, moved into the ISP market both because the recip was favorable
> and also because the Bells had dragged their feet giving the ISPs the
> bulk lines they needed to grow their business, and offered things the
> Bells wouldn't like broad local number coverage. In this particular
> case the Bells shot themselves directly in the foot.
I must have had a brain fart. You are right, of course. The FCC
adopted the scheme advocated by the ILECs, who thought that they would
be terminating all the calls and would collect more than they paid. The
CLECs, naturally looked for a business plan to receive terminating comp
and came up with ISPs. The ILECs called foul, and the FCC eventually
got them out of the hole they had dug by holding that internet traffic
was "interstate, interexchange" traffic even if dialed to a local
number.
Michael D. Sullivan
Bethesda, MD, USA
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Michael D. Sullivan (userid@camsul.example.invalid)