‘Some of the answers we've gotten so far are vague at best,’ Hous...
“Some of the answers we've gotten so far are vague at best,” House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) spokesman Ken Johnson said of responses CLECs sent to committee questions on costs of terminating calls made to ISPs. Correspondence was…
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meant to get at “root question” in reciprocal compensation debate, “what is the true cost of terminating a call,” Johnson said. “There continue to be ongoing discussions between the companies and our committee staff,” he said. Only one response -- that of WorldCom -- was posted to Committee’s Web site, with other 5 citing inclusion of proprietary information. WorldCom Exec. Vp-Gen. Counsel Michael Salsbury told committee his company now felt it was “more appropriate” to treat reciprocal compensation received from incumbent phone companies as cost offsets rather than revenue, an accounting practice change made Sept. 30. He said WorldCom “incurs actual economic costs” in terminating phone calls, but rather than provide specific economic data he referred to past rulemakings by FCC, state commissions, Telecom Act. Salsbury said federal and state laws “generally do not require CLECs to file cost studies measuring and reporting their actual costs,” so WorldCom never has compiled them.