Contact Information
New Book Delivers The Inside Story And
Implications Of FCCs Landmark Telephone Access Charge Reforms
Industry Players and Influencers Speak Out on What Changes Will Mean
(WASHINGTON, D.C., August 22, 2000) When the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) adopted a plan earlier this year to restructure the access charges that long
distance carriers pay local phone companies, it set in motion one of the largest and most
complex changes to the telecommunications industry in modern history. To help make sense
of these changes and what they mean to the industry, its shareholders and its customers,
Telecommunications Reports International (TRI) has just published Changing the Rules:
The Future of Telephone Access Charges. ($179, 150 pages. To order, call
1-800-822-6338 or visit the TRI web site at www.tr.com).
A five-year plan to change the way long distance carriers pay for access to local telco
networks was proposed by the industry Coalition for Affordable Local and Long Distance
Service. The compromise reached by the carriers included a $3.2 billion annual reduction
in the fees paid by the long distance industry, created a new $650 million Universal
Service fund and restructured consumers phone bills. The FCC adopted the plan in
May.
In Changing the Rules: The Future of Telephone Access Charges, TRI, the leading
telecommunications publisher and a unit of CCH INCORPORATED (CCH), offers a plain-English,
comprehensive look at what this regulatory change will mean throughout the industry.
"For years, theres been an ongoing war of words between the local and long
distance carriers over the appropriate level of access charges," said Victoria Mason,
editor in chief of TRIs flagship Telecommunications Reports, the journal of record for the
telecommunications industry. "Through the coalition these two sides finally were able
to reach some agreement, but many complicated questions remain about how the new rules
will affect the telecommunications industry. The controversy isnt over."
Through in-depth conversations with industry players including regulators,
industry association executives and consumer group advocates Changing the Rules:
The Future of Telephone Access Charges tackles these issues:
- Whats required to implement the plan?
- What will happen at the end of the five-year period? Will the plan even last that long?
- What is the financial fallout for telecom companies and their customers?
- Will the changes make access charges more compatible with the introduction of new
technologies and services?
- Will the FCC be able to hold AT&T and Sprint to their promises to pass on savings
from access charge reductions to consumers?
- Will consumers really be better off under the new rules?
- As the nations small telcos develop their own plan for rule changes affecting
them, what disputes are likely to arise?
Changing the Rules: The Future of Telephone Access Charges also provides the
full text of the initial CALLS proposal filed with the FCC and the revised final plan, as
well as additional background documents, including a study by the FCC on the expected
effect of the regulatory changes.
Availability and Pricing
The 150-page Changing the Rules: The Future of Telephone Access Charges is $179,
plus applicable shipping, handling and tax. For more information or to order, call
1-800-822-6338 or visit the TRI web site at www.tr.com.
About TRI and CCH INCORPORATED
Telecommunications Reports International, based in Washington, D.C., is the most
respected provider of telecommunications industry news and analysis. Since 1934,
executives and policy-makers have relied on TRIs comprehensive coverage and analysis
of major industry issues and events. TRI is part of the Business and Finance Group at CCH
INCORPORATED, a leading provider of tax and business law information and software. The TRI
web site can be accessed at www.tr.com.
CCH has served more than four generations of business professionals and their clients,
covering a wide range of legal and compliance topics including securities, insurance,
banking, telecommunications, trade regulations and government contracting. CCH is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer. The CCH web site can be accessed at www.cch.com. The CCH Business and Finance
Group web site can be accessed at http://business.cch.com.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Members of the press interested in a review copy of Changing the
Rules: The Future of Telephone Access Charges should contact Leslie Bonacum,
847-267-7153 or bonacuml@cch.com.
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