A coalition of spectrum providers has written a letter to the FCC urging that changes be made to Intercarrier Compensation rules and also requesting that the FCC issue a statement that VoIP services are to be governed only by federal rules and not state rules. Intercarrier compensation refers to the charges that one carrier pays to another when a call starts with the first carrier and ends with the other. The rates for these charges vary widely. The coalition (comprised of mobile, telco, and VoIP advocacy groups as well as incumbents) is asking that the FCC set one uniform rate for these charges, an issue which has been debated by the FCC since 2001.

The coalition says that this will allow for reasonable rates but others warn that it has the potential to raise charges on your cell phone bill. There are also concerns about how changes might affect VoIP service; some groups have suggested that special access charges be applied to situations in which a call originates from a VoIP service (including one that is free to the customer) but ends with a non-VoIP carrier. As the FCC is addressing these issues, the VoIP industry hopes it will also make a statement clarifying that only federal rules govern VoIP so that states can’t apply their own rules in situations like this one. The coalition is asking for a decision on this issue by November.