FCC Clarifies VoIP Symmetry Rule

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The FCC Thursday voted to clarify the interpretation of a rule governing certain carrier-to-carrier payments. Commissioners hope the action will ensure continued investment in modern, Internet Protocol networks and promote competition among voice telephone service providers.

The agency’s legacy system of inner carrier compensation was intended to provide support for local networks by requiring long distance providers to pay local telephone companies a per-minute fee for calls delivered over the so-called “last mile network” to a home or business. 

Historically, these end office access charges were a key element of local telephone company’s revenues, especially in rural areas. The item adopted affirms that a VoIP Local exchange carrier (LEC) partnership may collect end-office switched access charges where either the LEC or its VoIP provider partner provides access to the last mile facilities used to serve an end-user.

One of these regulations allows local telephone companies to recover charges from long-distance carriers for terminating calls on the local network, known as end-office switching. Historically, these end-office access charges were a key element of local telephone company’s revenues, especially in rural areas.  

In 2011, the Commission adopted the VoIP symmetry rule, which ensured Voice-over-Internet-Protocol providers would be competitive with traditional voice providers by allowing them to recover those charges if they perform the same function as traditional telephone carriers. In 2015, the Commission sought to extend application of the VoIP symmetry rule to all VoIP providers, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the 2015 order.

The item adopted affirms that a VoIP Local exchange carrier (LEC) partnership may collect end office switched access charges where either the LEC or its VoIP provider partner provides access to the last mile facilities used to serve an end-user. In so doing, the Commission provides certainty to carriers regarding VoIP services and promotes the continued transition from traditional voice networks to modern all-IP networks and helps resolve pending inter-carrier competition disputes.

December 16, 2019

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