Clearwire 2009 Annual Report Download - page 30

I
nterconnecte
d
VOIP Services Re
g
u
l
ation
T
he FCC has not
y
et classified interconnected VoIP service as either an information service or a telecom-
m
unications service under the Communications Act. Nonetheless, the FCC has im
p
osed certain mandates u
p
on
V
oIP serv
i
ce prov
id
ers t
h
at,
i
nt
h
e past, app
li
e
d
on
l
ytote
l
ecommun
i
cat
i
ons serv
i
ces. For examp
l
e, t
h
e FCC
d
eterm
i
ne
d
t
h
at re
g
ar
dl
ess o
f
t
h
e
i
rre
g
u
l
ator
y
c
l
ass
ifi
cat
i
on, certa
i
n
i
nterconnecte
d
VoIP serv
i
ces qua
lify
a
s
i
nterstate services with respect to economic re
g
ulation. But the FCC also preempted state re
g
ulations that address
s
uch issues as entry certification, tariffing and E911 requirements, as applied to certain interconnected VoI
P
s
erv
i
ces. T
h
e
j
ur
i
s
di
ct
i
ona
l
c
l
ass
ifi
cat
i
on o
f
ot
h
er t
y
pes o
fi
nterconnecte
d
VoIP serv
i
ces, part
i
cu
l
ar
ly
“
fi
xe
d”
s
ervices, remains uncertain at this time.
T
he FCC also has determined that all “interconnected” VoIP service
p
roviders are re
q
uired to contribute a
p
ercenta
g
e of interstate
g
ross revenues to the USF be
g
innin
g
October 1, 200
6
. On June 1, 2007, the United States
Court of A
pp
eals for the District of Columbia Circuit u
p
held the FCC’s order that interconnected VoIP
p
rovider
s
c
ontribute to the USF on the basis of a 64.9% safe harbor or on the basis of actual traffic studies. Our VoIP servic
e
q
ua
lifi
es as “
i
nterconnecte
d
VoIP”
f
or purposes o
f
USF regu
l
at
i
on an
d
t
h
ere
f
ore
i
ssu
bj
ect to t
hi
s
f
ee w
hi
c
h
may
be
p
assed on to our subscribers. We have incorporated this fee requirement into our VoIP billin
g
s
y
stem and collect and
r
emit federal USF pa
y
ments.
Th
e FCC
i
s con
d
uct
i
ng a compre
h
ens
i
ve procee
di
ng to a
dd
ress a
ll
types o
f
IP-ena
bl
e
d
serv
i
ces,
i
nc
l
u
di
n
g
i
nterconnecte
d
VoIP serv
i
ce, an
d
to cons
id
er w
h
at regu
l
at
i
ons s
h
ou
ld b
e app
li
e
d
to suc
h
serv
i
ces. T
h
e FCC
h
a
s
i
mposed E911-related requirements on interconnected VoIP, includin
g
our service that require providers t
o
t
ransmit, via the wireline E911 network, all 911 calls, as well as a call-back number and the caller’s registere
d
l
ocat
i
on
f
or eac
h
ca
ll
,tot
h
e appropr
i
ate pu
bli
csa
f
ety answer
i
ng po
i
nt. In a
ddi
t
i
on, a
ll i
nterconnecte
d
Vo I
P
p
rov
id
ers must o
b
ta
i
nasu
b
scr
ib
er’s re
gi
stere
dl
ocat
i
on
b
e
f
ore act
i
vat
i
n
g
serv
i
ce an
d
a
ll
ow t
h
e
i
rsu
b
scr
ib
ers t
o
update their registered location immediately if the subscriber moves the service to a different location. Intercon
-
n
ecte
d
VoIP prov
id
ers are a
l
so requ
i
re
d
to a
d
v
i
se su
b
scr
ib
ers o
f
t
h
e
diff
erences
b
etween
di
a
li
n
g
911 us
i
n
g
Vo I
P
s
erv
i
ce
f
rom
di
a
li
n
g
911 us
i
n
g
tra
di
t
i
ona
l
te
l
ep
h
one serv
i
ce, an
d
to prov
id
e warn
i
n
gl
a
b
e
l
sw
i
t
h
VoIP CPE. O
n
Ma
y
31, 2007, the FCC initiated a proceedin
g
proposin
g
to adopt additional E911 obli
g
ations for providers of
p
orta
bl
e, noma
di
cormo
bil
e
i
nterconnecte
d
VoIP serv
i
ce,
i
nc
l
u
di
ng a requ
i
rement to
id
ent
if
ysu
b
scr
ib
ers’ p
h
ys
i
ca
l
l
ocat
i
ons t
h
rou
gh
an automat
i
c
l
ocat
i
on tec
h
no
l
o
gy
t
h
at meets t
h
e same accurac
y
stan
d
ar
d
st
h
at app
ly
to prov
id
er
s
of CMRS. The FCC has also proposed to ti
g
hten the current accurac
y
standards into a sin
g
le, technolo
gy
neutra
l
s
tan
d
ar
d
an
d
to c
l
ar
if
yt
h
e geograp
hi
c area over w
hi
c
h
w
i
re
l
ess E911 prov
id
ers must sat
i
s
f
yt
h
e E911 accurac
y
r
equ
i
rements. I
f
a
d
opte
d
,t
h
ese ru
l
es
lik
e
l
yw
ill
app
l
ytoC
l
earw
i
re Commun
i
cat
i
ons’
i
nterconnecte
d
VoIP serv
i
ce.
E911 service for interconnected VoIP service is also sub
j
ect to E911 fundin
g
obli
g
ations in certain states.
T
he FCC also has imposed Customer Proprietar
y
Network Information, or CPNI, obli
g
ations on intercon-
n
ecte
d
VoIP prov
id
ers,
i
nc
l
u
di
ng C
l
earw
i
re Commun
i
cat
i
ons. T
h
e CPNI ru
l
es govern t
h
e manner
i
nw
hi
c
h
carr
i
er
s
handle and protect call detail information about a customer
g
ained b
y
the service provider as a result of providin
g
t
he service, and include such information as telephone numbers called, duration of such calls, and calling patterns.
T
h
e FCC a
l
so a
d
opte
d
new ru
l
es requ
i
r
i
ng
i
nterconnecte
d
VoIP serv
i
ce an
d
equ
i
pment prov
id
ers to comp
l
yw
i
t
h
di
sa
bili
t
y
-access re
g
u
l
at
i
ons a
l
so app
li
ca
bl
e to tra
di
t
i
ona
l
te
l
ep
h
on
y
serv
i
ce an
d
equ
i
pment prov
id
ers un
d
e
r
S
ection 2
55
of the Communications Act. The FCC also ado
p
ted re
q
uirements that interconnected VoIP
p
rovider
s
c
ontribute to the Telecommunications Relay Service, which we refer to as TRS, fund, and provide 711-dialing fo
r
hearin
g
and speech-impaired individuals to reach a local TRS provider pursuant to Section 225 of the Commu
-
n
ications Act. As discussed above, interconnected VoIP service is sub
j
ect to CALEA obli
g
ations
.
On March 24, 2008 FCC rules became effective extending local number portability requirements to inter
-
c
onnecte
d
VoIP prov
id
ers an
d
c
l
ar
ifyi
n
g
t
h
at
l
oca
l
exc
h
an
g
e carr
i
ers an
d
CMRS prov
id
ers
h
ave an o
blig
at
i
on t
o
p
ort numbers to VoIP providers. In Ma
y
2009, the FCC also extended new 24-hour service discontinuance rules t
o
V
oIP
p
roviders.
Th
e FCC
i
s cons
id
er
i
ng a
ddi
t
i
ona
li
ssues;
i
nc
l
u
di
ng w
h
at
i
ntercarr
i
er compensat
i
on reg
i
me s
h
ou
ld
app
l
yt
o
i
nterconnecte
d
VoIP tra
ffi
c over t
h
e PSTN. Depen
di
ng upon t
h
e outcome o
f
t
hi
s procee
di
ng, our costs to prov
ide
V
oIP service ma
y
increase.
20