FCC's Newest Deadline Approaches

September 25th, 2008 by · Leave a Comment

In just 6-7 weeks, the FCC will run up against its latest deadline for dealing with intercarrier compensation.  Back in July, they were given until November 5 by a federal court to address the issue.  Over on the Global Crossing blogs, Paul Kouroupas has an excellent post today detailing in plain language not only the extent of stupidity of the current system, but why it hurts everyone in the industry to leave it as is – from ILEC to CLEC to RLEC. 

Will the FCC act?  I hope so, after all one can only extend a deadline so many times right?  I mean, it’s only been on the docket for 8 years now.  We can come up with a $700B bailout package in a week or two to save Wall Street, but it takes a decade to figure out a fair way to settle up for phone calls?  It may sound like rocket science when you try to read the regulations, but it isn’t actually that hard.  And with the election being over the day before (coincidence? I dont’ think so), there will probably be a smokescreen for it no matter who wins.

But on the other hand, there’s really only one thing the FCC is good at, and that’s extending deadlines.  It’s really, really hard to bet against them doing it again, after all the current system may be bad for the industry but it sure is good for the lawyers and lobbyists.

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Categories: Government Regulations

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