Theos-Talk Archives (February 1997 Message tl00352)

        Here is some info I picked up from Denver Newspaper.


Opposition to additional Internet phone
charges floods in
02/13
By Lisa Greim
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer


A proposal that would require Internet service
providers to bear more of telephone companies'
costs for local access is garnering attention.

In a preliminary ruling in December,
the Federal Communications Commission
rejected the idea of charging Internet
providers extra to use the voice network.
But the commission asked for public
comments before making a final judgment.

Now, electronic mailboxes, message boards
and Usenet news groups are filling with urgent
appeals, claiming responses to the idea must be
sent to the FCC by Friday.

"Don't let the greedy telcos affect your Internet
access! Please forward this message to
everyone you know so our voices may be
heard!'' said one version.

The e-mail alerts have picked up steam in the
last few weeks. A Rocky Mountain News
reporter received three in one day this week.

Although they stem from the rule-making
process, some of the information they contain
is incorrect. Comments on a
broad proposal about access charges are
due Friday, but the FCC will accept
comments on the Internet portion until March 24,
and "reply comments'' until
April 23.

The commission will meet in late spring
to consider the issue and make a final
ruling.

US West and other phone providers told the FCC
that the Internet's 30 million
users add traffic that tie up the phone network
for voice calls. Pacific Bell
reported that a surge in Internet use on one
evening forced a switch to block 16% of attempted phone calls.

Inexpensive flat rates encourage users to park
on the Net for hours at a time,
telephone companies say. The phone network
was built to support voice calls,
which average about six minutes.

Submissions trickled in until early February,
when the news about the proposal
began to circulate widely on the Net. In one week,
the total went from 613 messages to more than 80,000,
said Jodie Buenning at the FCC.

Mail continues to pour in at a rate of 30 messages
a minute -- the largest public
response in the FCC's history.
"We are overwhelmed,'' Buenning said.

But every message will be added to the case
record, read and considered by the
commission, she said. "This is a public process.''

Scripps Howard News Service contributed to this report.



------------------------------