December 2002
The ATS Network & Billing Update, published by Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc. (www.atso.com), is an electronic monthly guide to telecommunications OSS, billing, and revenue assurance news and analysis. This free newsletter is distributed by subscription only. To subscribe, click on the "Sign Up" link at left. To unsubscribe, contribute an article, or for comic relief, please scroll to the end. Feel free to forward this newsletter!
In This Issue:
- Editor's Note
- New UNE Rules Approach, Debate Intensifies
- No Access Charges for Phone-to-Phone IP Telephony?
- Independents Rebut Wireless Petition Against Reciprocal Compensation
- Telecom Recovery tops STARTRAX agenda
- Cities and Municipalities Reinvent Communications
Some interesting things are going on at the FCC this past month. The UNE wave is building and getting ready to crash on a telecom shore near you. AT&T is trying to settle the score on access charges for phone-to-phone IP telecommunications (eliminating them of course). And wireless carriers want bill-and-keep for reciprocal compensation on “indirect” interconnection to rural ILECs.
Also this past month, a number of carriers have shared in ATS’ celebration of SimCall's 10th anniversary for revenue and service assurance at the switch. They are seeking to take advantage of the special opportunity for discounts on orders placed this year only. There’s still time to join them. Visit here and contact us for more information.
UNE Rules Approach,
Debate Intensifies
With the FCC entering the home stretch in its "triennial review" proceeding to develop new rules on unbundled network elements (UNEs), the public debate among carriers and states has intensified, as well as visits and letters to FCC staff in attempts to influence the outcome. The UNE rules evolved from the 1996 Telecommunications Act to provide a way for local competition to develop through wholesale purchase and use by CLECs of RBOC network facilities. The RBOCs hate the rules, while many CLECs, including AT&T and WorldCom, rely on them to provide local service. [More]. [Top of Page]
No Access
Charges for Phone-to-Phone IP Telephony?
Last week, the FCC requested comments on AT&T's 37-page petition to exempt its phone-to-phone IP telephony services from access charges. In what is sure to be a contentious proceeding between IXCs, LECs, wireless and next-gen providers, CompTel has already asked the FCC for more time to file reply comments. [More] [Top of Page]
Independents
Rebut Wireless Petition Against Reciprocal Compensation
In September, T-Mobile and other wireless carriers filed a petition requesting the FCC to ban independent LECs from using state tariffs as substitutes for reciprocal compensation arrangements; and indicated that bill-and-keep should apply for “indirect” interconnection with such LECs (a wireless carrier will typically exchange traffic with smaller ILECs through an intermediate carrier’s tandem switch). [More] [Top of Page]
Telecom
Recovery tops STARTRAX agenda
Over 500 senior telecom executives took part in three days of debate about the shape of the anticipated telecom recovery last week. RHK's annual STARTRAX conference in Phoenix, Arizona drew attendees from all players in the public telecom network, including service providers, systems and software vendors, component suppliers and financial institutions. [More] [Top of Page]
Cities and
Municipalities Reinvent Communications
Nortel Networks today announced several deployments of its Optical Ethernet solution by local governments and municipalities looking to leverage technology to create "connected" communities and provide secure, online information and services to their citizens. The City of Roanoke, Virginia; City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and the City of St. Hyancinthe, Quebec become the latest cities to deploy Optical Ethernet. [More] [Top of Page]
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