NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: JIM DUFFY WITH VIEW FROM THE EDGE 08/24/04 Today's focus: Carrier group seeks fee overhaul
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * Year-long effort results in proposal for compensation reform * Links related to View from The Edge * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Oracle An Economist Intelligence Unit White Paper: From Grid to Great? Grid computing is breaking out. Familiar mostly to academics, government groups, and scientific researchers, this technology that links together the power of diverse computers to create powerful, fast and flexible systems is beginning to catch on in the corporate world. Included in this white paper, results and interviews from a global survey among Sr Executives, click to download now http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=73344 _______________________________________________________________ Weekly Webcast Newsletter The weekly Webcast Newsletter brings you information on webcasts available on NW Fusion - your 24/7 source for the latest solutions and strategies, complete with links, resources, and the personal answers you need. Covering vital topics like security, applications, wireless, and more, our webcasts are highly focused, single-topic briefings from experts in technology. Sign up today! http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=73066 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Carrier group seeks fee overhaul By Jim Duffy A group of carriers is lobbying the FCC to overhaul the way service providers are compensated for completing calls originating on competitors' networks. The so-called Intercarrier Compensation Forum (ICF), led by AT&T, MCI, Sprint and SBC, is proposing a reform of disparate inter-carrier compensation arrangements that they claim "harms consumers and creates artificial regulatory advantages for certain carriers and technologies." The group says its plan seeks to revamp the system to preserve competition, facilitate deployment of new technologies and advance consumer interests. The ICF members also include General Communication, Global Crossing North America, Iowa Telecom, Level 3 Communications and Valor Telecommunications. The group once included at least 25 member carriers participating at various stages throughout a year-long effort to craft the new compensation plan. Among those 25 were Verizon and BellSouth. They left the group last May when they could not fully endorse the compensation plan as it was at that time. Both carriers are mulling the latest effort. According to the ICF, the current compensation arrangement harms consumers by forcing carriers to make arbitrary distinctions between local and long-distance services, which makes it more difficult for consumers to receive the service bundles they want. "Jurisdictional disparities in inter-carrier compensation often make it more expensive to call across the state than across the country or around the world," the group claims in an executive summary of its plan. The current system also harms universal service, the ability to fund telecom service in rural and poor areas, the group claims. Some providers are able to avoid some or all of their contribution obligations, as consumers increasingly bypass interstate long-distance offerings in favor of wireless services, bundled service and information services, according to the ICF. But the ICF's alternative is not without its critics. TeleTruth, a telecommunications customer advocacy organization, labeled the plan a "scam" that protects carrier interests at the expense of businesses and consumers. "Instead of getting rid of intrinsic problems, they're just raising rates," TeleTruth Chairman Bruce Kushnick says. Kushnick, who notes the lack of consumer representation, says the ICF is "more of a cabal than an economic analysis" group. Nonetheless, its plan, if approved, begins to restructure rates on July 1, 2005, and to unify the disparate network interconnection and inter-carrier compensation regimes within three years. It does this by seeking to develop uniform network interconnection rules that provide a framework for voluntary carrier negotiations and establish default responsibilities in the absence of any carrier agreement. The network interconnection rules are also designed to protect universal service in rural regions by establishing modified default rules to apply to networks operated by a Covered Rural Telephone Company (CRTC). RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS MCI investigating access-line dispute IDG News Service, 07/29/03 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0729mciinves.html FCC takes first step toward VoIP policy IDG News Service, 02/13/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2004/0213fccvoip.html MCI, Qwest reach pricing agreement IDG News Service, 06/01/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2004/0601mciqwest.html _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Jim Duffy Jim Duffy is managing editor of Network World's service provider equipment coverage <http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/>. He has 18 years of high-tech reporting experience, including over 12 years at Network World. Previously, he was senior editor at Computer Systems News and associate editor/reporter at Electronic News and MIS Week. He can be reached at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Oracle An Economist Intelligence Unit White Paper: From Grid to Great? Grid computing is breaking out. Familiar mostly to academics, government groups, and scientific researchers, this technology that links together the power of diverse computers to create powerful, fast and flexible systems is beginning to catch on in the corporate world. Included in this white paper, results and interviews from a global survey among Sr Executives, click to download now http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=73343 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Archive of the View from the Edge columns: http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/columnists/index.html _______________________________________________________________ Identity management best practices: User provisioning and password management. Is your organization burdened with the ongoing management of user identities and passwords across disparate enterprise applications? Learn how to solve management inefficiencies that reduce productivity, strain company resources and create security risks. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=73067 _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE WONDERING IF YOUR PAY IS UP TO SNUFF? Check out Network World's 2004 Salary Calculator to see if you're getting paid what you're worth. Using data collected in the 2004 Network World Salary Survey, we've programmed this calculator with several categories that could affect your pay. Answer the questions and find out what the average salary is for your job category. Click here: <http://www.nwfusion.com/salary/2004/calculator.html> _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. 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