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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 12:53:29 -0800
Reply-To: SJU Advocacy List <[log in to unmask]>
From: Bill Lipscomb <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: THE FCC, INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS AND ACCESS CHARGES
To: [log in to unmask]
Here is the info from the FCC, about per min internet acess charges.
I haven't seen any analysis/implications. If anyone has, that would be good
to see. They give an email address for informal comments:
Please inform your friends, about this. It could definitely impact our
community. Another step backwards.
Bill
[log in to unmask]
----------official FCC Doc follows------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
FACT SHEET
February 1997
THE FCC, INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS AND ACCESS CHARGES
This fact sheet offers informal guidance on an issue that has
generated a great deal of public interest. For more specific
details about the proceedings currently before the Commission,
please visit our web site (http://www.fcc.gov) or public
reference room or call our duplicating contractor for a copy of
CC Docket Numbers 96-262, 94-1, 91-213 and 96-263.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has requested public
comment on issues relating to the charges that Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) and similar companies pay to local telephone
companies.
On December 24, 1996, the FCC opened a proceeding to reform the
system of interstate access charges. Each long distance
telephone call you make includes per-minute fees that your long
distance carrier pays to the originating and terminating local
telephone companies over whose facilities that call also
travelled. Those fees, which are designed to recover the costs
to local telephone companies for use of their facilities, are
referred to as "access charges."
As part of this proceeding, the FCC sought comment on the
treatment of ISPs and other "enhanced service providers" that
also use local telephone companies' facilities. Since the access
charge system was established in 1983, enhanced service providers
have been classified as "end users" rather than "carriers" for
purposes of the access charge rules, and therefore they do not
pay the per-minute access charges that long-distance companies
pay to local telephone companies.
This issue is being considered on two different tracks.
I. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Access Charge Reform
The Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on Access Charge
Reform seeks comment on proposals to restructure the entire
system of access charges paid to local telephone companies. The
Commission is seeking to make the access charge system more
consistent with the development of local competition in the
telephone industry, and with principles of economic efficiency.
As part of this process, the Commission considered whether
enhanced service providers, such as ISPs, should be required to
pay interstate access charges. The Commission tentatively
concludes that ISPs should not be subject to access charges as
currently constituted. If you want to learn more about this
issue you should read paragraphs 282 through 290 in the Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (the rest of the document covers other
issues). You can also access this document on the FCC's Web
site, or you can obtain this section of the document by calling
our fax on demand system at 202/418-2830 and requesting document
number 4824.
The final deadline for comments on the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking is Friday, February 14, 1997.
You can submit formal comments by delivering or mailing five
copies to: Federal Communications Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Room 222, 1919 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20554.
You can also send informal comments via email. If your email
concerns the question of whether Internet and other enhanced
service providers should pay access charges, it should be
addressed to [log in to unmask] If your email concerns other issues in
the Access Reform NPRM, it should be addressed to [log in to unmask]
II. Notice of Inquiry On Internet and Interstate Information
Services
In a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) launched with this same Access
Reform proceeding, the FCC is seeking to identify what policies
would best facilitate the development of the high-bandwidth data
networks of the future, while preserving efficient incentives for
investment and innovation in the underlying voice network. The
NOI does not make any specific proposals, but seeks comment
generally on the implications of information services such as
Internet access for the telephone network.
If you want to learn more about this issue you should read
paragraphs 311 through 318, the NOI contained within the Access
Reform document. You can also obtain this document from the
FCC's Web site, or you can obtain this section of the document by
calling our fax on demand system at 202/418-2830 and requesting
document number 4824.
The deadline for comments on the Notice of Inquiry is March 24,
1997. Reply comments, submitted in response to the initial round
of comments, will be accepted through the close of business on
April 23, 1997.
You can submit formal comments by delivering or mailing five
copies to: Federal Communications Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Room 222, 1919 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20554.
You can also send informal comments via email by addressing them
to [log in to unmask]
Frequently Asked Questions on Internet Services and Access
Charges
Q: Does the FCC regulate the rates charged by Internet Service
Providers (ISPs)?
A: No. ISPs are considered "enhanced service providers" under
FCC rules. The FCC does not regulate the rates that enhanced
service providers charge to their subscribers.
Q: How does the FCC regulate the rates that local telephone
companies charge to ISPs?
A: ISPs purchase local phone lines so that customers can call
them. Under FCC rules, enhanced service providers ISPs are
considered "end users" when they purchase services from local
telephone companies. Thus, ISPs pay the same rates as any other
business customer, and these rates are set separately in each
state. By contrast, long-distance companies are considered
"carriers," and they pay interstate access charges regulated by
the FCC.
Q: How are access charges different from the rates ISPs pay
now?
A: Today, ISPs typically purchase "business lines" from local
phone companies. Business lines usually include a flat monthly
charge, and a per-minute charge for making outgoing calls.
Because ISPs receive calls from their subscribers rather than
making outgoing calls, ISPs generally do not pay any per-minute
charges for their lines, which is one reason many ISPs do not
charge per-minute rates for Internet access. Access charges, by
contrast, include per-minute fees for both outgoing and incoming
calls. The rate levels of interstate access charges are also in
many cases higher than the flat business line rates ISPs pay
today.
Q: Have local phone companies requested authority from the FCC
to charge per-minute rates to ISPs?
A: Since 1983, there has been an ongoing debate about whether
enhanced service providers should be required to pay access
charges, based on the contention that these companies use local
networks in the same manner as long-distance carriers. In June
1996, four local telephone companies (Pacific Bell, Bell
Atlantic, US West, and NYNEX) submitted studies to the FCC
concerning the effects of Internet usage on these carriers'
networks. The companies argued that the existing rate structure
did not reflect the costs imposed on local telephone companies to
support Internet access, and that Internet usage was causing
congestion in part of the local network. In connection with
these studies and other pleadings, several local phone companies
have asked the FCC for authority to charge interstate access
charges to ISPs, although they have not filed a formal petition
for rulemaking.
Q: Is the FCC considering allowing local phone companies to
impose access charges on ISPs?
A: The FCC has requested public comment on whether ISPs should
pay current access charges, and more generally on how Internet
and interstate information services that use local telephone
networks should be treated. The FCC's initial proposal is that
ISPs should not be required to pay current access charges, but
the Commission has made no final decisions.
Q: On what issues is the FCC asking for public comment?
A: In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC is asking for
comment on whether ISPs and other enhanced service providers
should pay the access charges now paid by long-distance
companies.
In the Notice of Inquiry, the FCC is asking for comment on
how to create incentives for companies to make the most efficient
use of the telephone network for Internet and other information
services, and on the impact of different rate structures for ISPs
on network usage and deployment of new technologies.
For more specific questions, see the Access Reform document
itself. The NPRM and NOI are part of the same document, which is
available on the FCC Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/isp.html.
Q: What is the difference between a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) and
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)?
A: A NOI is the earliest step in the FCC's process and
typically asks questions in an effort to gather enough
information to make informed proposals on a given topic. A NPRM
is a request for comment on specific proposals made by the
Commission. After the FCC reviews the comments filed in response
to an NPRM, the FCC can issue a Report and Order adopting new
rules.
Q: Is the FCC worried about the effects of different pricing
structures on the ISP industry, and on usage of the Internet?
A: Yes. The Commission expressed concern about the effects
that imposition of access charges could have on the competitive
ISP marketplace, and also noted that the Internet would likely
not have grown so rapidly in recent years if most users had been
required to pay per-minute rates for Internet access. At the
same time, local telephone companies have argued that per-minute
rates would more accurately reflect the costs that ISPs impose on
the network, and would provide sufficient revenues to fund
network upgrades needed to more efficiently handle data traffic.
Q: What are the deadlines for filing comments?
A: For the NPRM, which asks whether ISPs should pay current
access charges, the final deadline is February 14, 1997.
For the NOI, which asks for comment more generally about the
implications of Internet and interstate information services, the
comment deadline is March 24, 1997, and the reply deadline is
April 23, 1997.
Please note that both sets of deadlines have been moved back
from what was originally established in the Access Reform
document released in December 1996, in response to petitions for
extensions of time to file comments.
Q: How do I file comments on this issue?
A: You can submit formal comments by delivering or mailing five
copies to: Federal Communications Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Room 222, 1919 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20554.
Your comments must include the docket numbers, 96-262, 94-1,
91-213, and 92-253. More information on filing formal comments
is available on the FCC Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/.
Because of the importance of these issues to the Internet
community, the FCC has also established an email box for informal
comments at [log in to unmask]
Q: Will comments filed by other parties be available for
review?
A: Formal comments are available for review in the FCC
Reference Center in Washington DC. In addition, we will make
available on the FCC Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/ any copies
of formal comments we receive in electronic form.
Q: Is the FCC considering "surcharges" or "taxes" for use of
the Internet or online services?
A: No. The FCC has sought comment on whether ISPs should be
treated as end users or carriers, and has proposed initially to
keep the current system in place. The debate involves charges
levied by local phone companies, not government taxes.
Q: Is this the "FCC modem tax" that has been floating around
the Internet in various forms for several years?
A: The "modem tax" referred to a proposal in 1987 to require
enhanced service providers to pay interstate access charges,
which at that time were significantly higher than they are today.
The 1987 proposal was abandoned in 1988. The current Access
Reform proceeding is entirely separate, and the FCC has
specifically proposed not to require enhanced service providers
to pay access charges.
Q: What is the next step in the process?
A: The Commission will review the comments filed in response to
the NPRM and NOI. The FCC has expressed its intention to issue a
Report and Order on reforming the interstate access charge system
by May 1997. As for the NOI on Internet and interstate
information services, the record does not close until late April.
Based on that record, the Commission will decide whether at a
later date to issue an NPRM seeking comment on specific
proposals. The Commission also held a public forum on Access and
Bandwidth on January 23, 1997, in order to more fully address
questions relating to the implications of Internet services for
the telephone network. The transcript of the forum and related
materials are available on the FCC Web site at
http://www.fcc.gov/bandwidth/.
---FCC----
________________________________________________________________
Office of Public Affairs, Public Service Division, 1919 M Street NW,
Washington, D.C., 20554
202-418-0200/TTY 202-418-2555
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END OF MESSAGE
Peace Be With You!
Bill.................
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"We must not be satisfied with retaining the beautiful formulas of our
illustrious predecessors. Let us go forth to study beautiful nature, let us
try to free our minds from them, let us strive to express ourselves
according to our personal temperaments. Time and reflection, moreover,
modify little by little our vision, and at last comprehension comes to us."
- Paul Cézanne, from a letter to Èmile Bernard, 1905
|--------------->>>>>>>>>>>...<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<----------------------
Bill Lipscomb
[log in to unmask]
DREES LIST Administrator
http://www.slip.net/~wirt/dreeslst.htm
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