FCC commissioners: Access regime needs to be addressed soon

Several FCC commissioners expressed a desire to complete the three-year-old proceeding on intercarrier compensation this year, but doing so won’t be easy and could require help from lawmakers.

"There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to have to revise intercarrier compensation," FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy said during an investor conference presented yesterday by The Precursor Group. "We’re waiting to hear from the industry on some form of consensus approach. If the industry doesn’t come back to us, we’ll have to step up to the plate."

Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said the FCC needs to "move quickly" on intercarrier compensation but acknowledged it will take time.

Voice over IP technology’s emergence has generated a renewed focus on intercarrier compensation, but VoIP issues are merely "the latest version of an old problem," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said.

Fees paid to local exchange carriers for originating and terminating calls differ depending on the type of service provided and the call’s origination. The result is that service providers try to get classified in the manner that yields the best financial results—a practice Powell and Abernathy call "regulatory arbitrage."

One limiting factor for the FCC trying to resolve this debate is the fact that the U.S. recently negotiated settlement agreements with foreign governments and carriers based on the notion that IP traffic should be treated as a data offering instead of as traditional voice service, according to Commissioner Kevin Martin.

But the most significant hurdle may be jurisdictional, Powell said. The FCC has no input on the basic phone rates charged to customers or on instrastate access fees. These rates are set by state commissions, which makes it difficult for the FCC to adopt a holistic approach to intercarrier compensation. Lawmakers may need to get involved, Powell said.

"I think we can solve a lot of it, but I think there may be a point where Congress needs to step in," Powell said.