The last (I hope) word on the FCC "Internet charges by the

["Brig C. McCoy" <BRIGC@WORLD.STD.COM>]

Hi...

There's been a lot of traffic lately about a couple of phone companies
asking the FCC to allow them to charge for Internet traffic on a per minute
basis. Unfortunately, not all of us have read the darn thing properly.

THE FCC HAS DECIDED NOT TO ALLOW PER-MINUTE CHARGES AT THIS TIME.

The e-mail address at the FCC is for folks to comment on whether they agree
with the FCC decision to NOT ALLOW PER-MINUTE CHARGES.

Here's a direct quote from the FCC's Fact Sheet on this topic:
<http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Factsheets/ispfact.html>

"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."

Notice, it says "...should NOT be subject to access charges...".

Apparently the folks at the FCC have been inundated with e-mail and other
communications from well-meaning Internet users yelling and screaming about
the FCC making Internet unaffordable for most folks.

IN SUMMATION: THE FCC HAS DECIDED TO NOT ALLOW TELEPHONE COMPANIES TO
CHARGE ISPs ON A PER MINUTE BASIS FOR LOCAL PHONE ACCESS.

Now this doesn't mean that the phone companies might not try to re-file
this request at a later date, but for now... :)

...brig

--
Brig C. McCoy                    - Automation Consultant
Southeast Kansas Library System  - BRIGC@WORLD.STD.COM
218 East Madison Street          - 316 365-5136
Iola, KS  66749                  - 316 365-5137, Fax