FCC Proposes Updated Rules to Eliminate Access Arbitrage

The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules that would modify the intercarrier compensation regime to address ongoing harmful arbitrage practices that raise costs for long-distance carriers and their customers. The FCC seeks comment on proposed changes to its Access Stimulation Rules to ensure that they apply to traffic that terminates through providers of IP-enabled services (IPES Providers). In the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC proposes to require these providers to count and report their call traffic volumes to the FCC to determine compliance with the Access Stimulation Rules.