The Iowa Utilities Board scheduled a Sept. 10...
The Iowa Utilities Board scheduled a Sept. 10 workshop for industry and interested parties to discuss outdated provisions in existing regulatory statues, the IUB said in an order Tuesday (http://bit.ly/13JjBJS). Based on public comments in July (CD July 3 p7),…
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the IUB said it decided to reevaluate the need for the existing system of intrastate telecommunications regulation. The IUB provided a list of possible topics to discuss at the workshop including VoIP, carrier of last resort, necessity of tariffs for local exchange carriers and discontinuance of service and intercarrier disputes. To determine if VoIP should be deregulated, the IUB wants to hear about the extent the technology is used in retail and wholesale services, if the use of IP technology could affect the reliability of emergency service calls and any implications of the deregulation of interconnected VoIP. The IUB said it wants to hear comments on eliminating the carriers of last resort in terms of availability of phone service in all areas of Iowa, voice quality, public safety, broadband expansion and federal Lifeline requirements. Local exchange carriers want the IUB to discontinue the service of interexchangeable carriers that “engage in self-help by withholding access charge payments,” and the board wants comments on the magnitude of the non-payment issue and whether IXCs are disputing access charges pursuant to the provisions of access tariffs. The IUB wants to know if all VoIP providers would be required to support intrastate Telecommunications Relay Service and the Iowa Equipment and Distribution Program, as well what mechanisms would be used to assess the types of VoIP providers for these programs. The workshop is scheduled for Sept. 10 at 9 a.m., with written comments due Sept. 18 to Docket NOI-2013-0001.