wmartin@ALMSA-1.ARPA (Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI) (07/30/88)
> The FCC does not regulate the rates AOS companies charge for > interstate long-distance calls. Several states, however, have begun > considering regulation of the industry for intrastate calls. Why not? They regulate what AT&T can charge, don't they? At least they did -- is this something that fell out from under the FCC due to deregulation? I thought AT&T still had to get approval for rate *reductions* [that always sounded pretty offensive! only *raises* should need approval!]. It would appear to me to be a simple thing to make the tariffed AT&T rates be the legal MAXIMUM that any other company could charge. Anyone could undercut them -- that would provide the "advantage of competition" that the deregulators laud -- but no one could charge more, and that would protect the consumer. If AOS companies couldn't hack it in that market, then they fail. So what? Its not as if there is any need for them, after all. They are a completely gratuitous industry, with no justification for their existence. Then, if the state PUCs would do the same for intrastate rates, the problem would be solved. (It would be a good time for the state PUCs to limit intrastate rates to be no higher than an interstate call of the same distance, too!) On a slightly different but related topic -- the only reason most of these companies get away with the sort of AOS and COCOT scams we've been reading about is that they get access to the consumer through the local telco billing. It would appear to be a good thing to cut that access off. Only allow the local telco to bill you for services they themselves provide. AT&T, Sprint, MCI, "The Grace L. Ferguson Airline, Telephone, and Storm Door Company", etc., all have to bill you directly. AT&T does that already for equipment rental (does anyone still rent their phones?). Other alternate LD services had long ago worked out chargecard billing and the like. So this will only hurt these AOS scum who don't deserve to collect any money anyway. (You still will have to not make calls from your hotel room and the like, but I learned long ago, before AOS erupted like a boil on the buttocks of the public, never to touch a hotel room phone, since you're likely to get some sort of bogus spurious charges anytime it goes off-hook.) Will Martin "You can never find a lynch mob when you need one..."