11th Circuit Supports FCC on 911 Fee Parity
Congress didn’t intend for VoIP customers to pay more for 911 than landline users, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The court denied Autauga County and other Alabama 911 districts’ challenge to an FCC order restricting state,…
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local and tribal governments in Alabama from charging higher 911 calling fees for VoIP than traditional telecom services (see 1910250063). The 911 districts argued Congress’ 911 fee parity rule allowed them to charge VoIP and non-VoIP providers using a different unit of measure for each if they applied the same base fee for each unit. “We independently arrive at the same conclusion as the FCC,” wrote Judge Robin Rosenbaum (in Pacer). “We base our determination on congressional intent as expressed in the statutory text, structure, and purpose of the NET 911 Act.” Congress’ 911 fee parity rule “precludes any unit of measurement that results in higher total fees for VoIP subscribers than for non-VoIP subscribers with the same outbound concurrent call capacity,” said Rosenbaum: The point “is to ensure that VoIP and non-VoIP subscribers financially support 911 facilities to the same extent that they burden the hotline service.” The Alabama group’s reading “would create a financial disincentive to potential VoIP providers and subscribers alike to invest in VoIP services,” contrary to Congress’ desire to encourage a rapid VoIP transition, she said. Judges Robert Luck and Lanier Anderson joined the opinion. The Alabama districts, FCC and intervenors USTelecom, NCTA and AT&T didn’t comment by our deadline.