Transcript EI-5 - TMCnet

Level 3 Petition for Forbearance
from Interstate and Intrastate
Switched Access Charges
William P. Hunt, III
Level 3 Communications, LLC
Pre-Telecom
ActIf…
Post-Telecom Act
What
ESP
PRI
ILEC
A
ESP
B
CLEC
PRI
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Summary of Level 3 Forbearance
Petition
 Purpose: Have the FCC eliminate all legal bases for
levying access charges on IP-PSTN VoIP traffic and
some (such as call forwarded or leaky PBX) PSTNPSTN traffic.
 Effect if granted: All traffic exchange for IP-PSTN and
covered PSTN-PSTN traffic will be done pursuant to
reciprocal compensation agreements, and can
therefore be exchanged over co-carrier trunks rather
than Feature Group D. State access charges are also
preempted.
 Dial-up ISP Bound traffic would not change. ISP
Bound would still be subject to MOU caps and to the
$.007/minute rate cap until the FCC acts on the Court
remand.

Relative use calculations and 3:1 threshold for
presumptively ISP-bound traffic would be altered as
traffic passed from Level 3 to ILEC increased.
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IP-PSTN Traffic Covered
 Traffic originates on the PSTN –


Within the same LATA as the point of interconnection
between the LEC and the interconnected telecom. carrier
(i.e., Level 3).
Is passed to an end user from an IP network in IP format.
 Traffic originates on an IP network –


Is delivered by the interconnected telecom. carrier (i.e. Level
3) to the LEC in the same LATA as the Called Party.
Is transmitted from an (originating) end-user to an IP
provider in IP format.
 Exception for traffic exchanged with a LEC in an
area served by an ILEC subject still subject to
Section 251(f)(1)’s rural exemptions.
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IP-PSTN Traffic Covered -Examples
 Level 3 customer has locally-rated NXX –
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Calls to that number from within the same LATA are
exchanged as “local.”

Calls from that number that are terminated within the
same LATA as any Level 3 POP are exchanged as
“local,” regardless of whether the calling and called
parties are in the same ILEC local calling area.
 Level 3 customer has an 8XX number –

Calls delivered by the LEC to a Level 3 POP in the
same local calling area as the calling party are
exchanged as “local”.

Note: Petition does not address any feasibility issues.
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IP-PSTN Traffic Not Covered -Examples
 Off-Net Origination –
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Calls to a Level 3 customer that originate outside the
LATA, and are therefore carried by an IXC to Level 3
would still pay originating access charges.
IXC termination to Level 3 via RBOC meet point trunks:
for regulatory consistency Level 3 should bill at the
local rate for terminating access.
 Off-Net Termination –

Calls terminated by Level 3 by means of an IXC (i.e.,
terminating outside the LATA of a Level 3 POP) would
still pay terminating access charges.
 Open question to be determined in other FCC
proceedings –
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Intrastate or interstate access charges?
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Incidental PSTN-PSTN Traffic
 Only “Incidental” PSTN-PSTN traffic is covered.

Example 1: Calls “forwarded” from IP user to a cell
phone.

Example 2: End user IP-PBX “leaks” onto PSTN, such
as in a “peer-to-peer” setting, with one or both peers
interconnected to the PSTN.
 Exclusions from “Incidental” traffic – No “net”
protocol conversion and:

Interconnected telecom. carrier is the calling party’s 1+
presubscribed LEC.

Interconnected telecom. carrier is a calling card/dialaround provider selected by the calling party.
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FCC Forbearance Petition -Timeline
 Filed December 23, 2003.
 FCC Public Notice issued January 2, 2004.
 Initial Comments due: March 1, 2004.
 Reply Comments due: March 31, 2004.
 12 month Statutory Deadline: December 23,
2004.
 + 90 Day Extension: March 23, 2005.
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Other FCC Pending Petitions
Affecting Access Charges
 Pulver.com – IP-IP traffic. Likely result: No access
charges. (expected Feb.-Mar. 2004).
 AT&T – PSTN-PSTN traffic. Likely result: Access
charges for at least 1+/dial-around termination. Big
issue is retroactivity. (possible Feb.-Mar. 2004).
 Vonage – IP-PSTN classification. Likely result:
interstate information service classification. Any
interstate only decision will preempt intrastate access
charges.
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