On Thu, 25 Feb 1999, you wrote:
>Time for my monthly off-topic post for the non-slashdotters...
>seems that the FCC had declared that calls to an ISP classify as Long
>Distance.
Since I'm somewhat connected to the phone industry, I can tell you what is
going on here. A bunch of small telcos have been servicing ISPs. Because they
consider the calls local, they have been asking for "reciprocal compensation"
from the telco where the call originates. This is a fee paid by your telco to
their telco for a local call which passes from one service provider to another.
Because ISPs have a lot of calls coming in, but hardly any going out, these
small telcos have been making a bundle from the larger telcos (as well as
what they get paid by the ISPs).
However, if the call is considered LD, then the small telcos are not eligible
for reciprocal compensation. What we can expect here is that the small telcos
have to raise their rates, which means the ISPs will have to raise theirs. So
we may have to pay more for dial-up service to ISPs.
On the other hand, the bigger telcos should now be able to lower their rates,
so our phone bills should get smaller. ROTL. Don't hold your breath.
Anyway, this should in no way effect how the call is billed to the end-users,
that is, they will still be charged as local calls. This is a clarification of
how the call is accounted for between telcos.
Hope this make everybody feel better.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Send administrative requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
