Sprint Latest To Sue Iowa Telcos Over Sketchy Deals
from the blame-the-regulators,-though dept
Following Qwest's complaint to the FCC and AT&T's lawsuit, Sprint Nextel is the latest to get upset by the regulatory loopholes being exploited by Iowa telcos and services like FreeConference.com. Sprint is now suing 14 rural Iowa telcos, claiming that the companies are striking "illegal deals" with the various service providers. It's easy to understand the big telcos frustration -- but again (as when the big telcos blocked calls to these Iowa numbers) the blame is misplaced. It's not that the rural telcos were doing anything illegal. They were simply exploiting a regulatory loophole put in by regulators who never bothered to consider the consequences. So why not focus on getting those regulators to change the laws so that big telcos don't have to pay a lot more than a phone call is worth to a bunch of random Iowa telcos?
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by Matt Bennett on May 9th, 2007 @ 1:06pm
cuz that takes an awful damn long time, that's why. Duh.
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by Andrew on May 9th, 2007 @ 1:17pm
Payback's a bitch, ain't it?
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Sue, sue, sue. by Larry McAllister on May 9th, 2007 @ 1:48pm
With connection charges, wholesale-wise, we're looking at sub 1-cent/min levels. The fact that Q, T, S, and VZ are all suing what is essentially 14 co-ops makes bad publicity.
I digress.. there must be a lot of people using these conference services.
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It is just another tactic -- lawsuit as business t by Andrew Pollack on May 9th, 2007 @ 2:49pm
I doubt anyone at the big telcos thinks that the little telcos are doing anything that isn't within the laws laid out by the state of Iowa. Having failed to gain regulatory relief however, these large telcos can easily sue the smaller ones into oblivion simply by virtue of having massive legal departments on their payroll, and forcing the smaller telcos into the legal defense business rather than the telecoms business.
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IANAL... by Anonymous Coward on May 9th, 2007 @ 3:39pm
...but aren't they essentially making it illegal to use these loopholes if they win the lawsuit?
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by Chris on May 9th, 2007 @ 4:14pm
It seems to me that the reason they sue the small companies is that they are grasping at straws to get their money back from somebody. If that does not work they'll probably just raise their rates to all of us to make up for it.
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by Vincent Clement on May 9th, 2007 @ 4:20pm
And in the end, the customer will be paying for these lawsuits. Perhaps the telcos will introduce a "Legal Assistance Fee" on phone bills.
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by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:00am
Down with Sprint ! MetroPCS is the future!!!
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