Telecom Interests Call VoIP Truth-in-Billing Proposals Needless
Extending truth-in-billing (TIB) rules to cover interconnected VoIP and requiring voice providers separate government-mandated charges from other charges on bills is needless and potentially confusing to consumers, telecom interests said in docket 98-170 comments posted through Thursday. Not everyone agreed.…
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Replies on the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs public notice are due March 13. USTelecom argued against a "'one size fits all' requirement on how voice service providers display ... line-item fees" since the market is ensuring providers bill "in a transparent and customer-friendly way." It said TIB rules being extended to iVoIP would be justified only if there were evidence of consumer concerns with bills. Verizon said rules let providers provide clear and useful information even in different ways. Incompas said the market hasn't changed over the past 16 years to now warrant such iVoIP TIB rules, as did Voice on the Net Coalition (see here). Cable interests argued for a broader approach. NCTA said few providers offer only voice, and the agency should focus on setting up "high-level principles for all voice services" that line up with the principles applicable to other services it oversees. If the agency does voice-specific iVoIP billing rules, applying existing rules would be "a poor fit," it said. It suggested changes, such as only requiring identification of line-item fees to make clear what the total price of a package of services is, instead of requiring a specific form of separation of fees. First doing a comprehensive review of the voice services market would help ensure any steps result in fewer consumer complaints while avoiding imposition of new costs on providers, America’s Communications Association said. It said members generally don't bill separately for local and long-distance service iVoIP, so breaking out such charges on customer bills as wireline common carriers do would serve no purpose. Backing the line-item billing suggested rule, NTCA said it would allow consumers to equally compare different providers. It backed TIB rules applied to iVoIP providers as "a natural extension of [FCC] rules." Kansas Corporation Commission said the TIB expansion would ensure all consumers have the same basic bill information. It said wireless and iVoIP service features are similar so it's reasonable to apply TIB rules to both.