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Las Vegas, Nevada—October 4, 2004 – NECA President, CEO and Chairman of the Board Bill Hegmann said today that any new system of intercarrier compensation must not place the funding burden on the customers of rural telephone companies. Instead, said Hegmann, any new system must include a third revenue stream, so the future of rural telephone networks is not jeopardized. Hegmann made his comments on the first day of EXPO 2004, NECA’s annual training and industry issues conference.
“Generally it’s just the big long distance carriers that want to change the intercarrier compensation system to begin with because they just don’t want to pay access charges anymore,” said Hegmann. “Any company, whether wireline, wireless or VoIP using the public network to complete its calls must pay for that privilege.
“Basically what they want to do is take a rural customer, who might be a senior citizen, on a fixed income, who may not even be making toll calls on the network and telling them they have to pay more money just on the chance they might someday make a call.
“Their plan is taxing the poor. All it does is transfer wealth from the rural customer to them. We can’t just increase people’s bills so long distance carriers can pay less. That’s a dangerous recipe.
“In the meantime,” said Hegmann, “the rural telecom industry needs to put itself in a position to adapt to any change that may come. The industry needs to ensure that its voice is heard.”
NECA’s annual EXPO got underway today with a Symposium—Tomorrow’s Technology, Yesterday’s Regulation—Making it Work. The keynote speaker was Richard Lerner, the Chief of Staff of the Wireline Competition Bureau of the FCC. The symposium also included speakers from Vonage, Qwest, AT&T and the Montana Public Service Commission. NECA EXPO will also feature three days of training sessions for NECA member companies on important issues affecting the rural telephone industry.
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