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Farmers Telephone Company of Riceville Leads the Charge to Washington DC for Meetings With FCC Commissioners to Combat Illegal Call Blocking

Posted on: Tuesday, 17 April 2007, 09:00 CDT

The Farmers Telephone Company of Riceville, Iowa, a full-service telecommunications provider offering the highest quality services at the most competitive rates to North Central Iowa for more than 100 years, is banding together with its peers in an initiative to the Federal Communications Commission and legislators on Capitol Hill to investigate the recent call blocking and nonpayment of access fees by major carriers including AT&T/AT&T Wireless, Qwest/Embarq, US Cellular and some of the other largest telephone companies in the country.

"For over a month, the biggest carriers in the country have been blocking calls to rural Iowa telcos, in a dispute over phone charges," said Ronald Laudner, CEO, The Farmers Telephone Company of Riceville, Iowa. "Starting last week, most of the large carriers succumbed to pressure from the FCC, consumers, public interest groups and the media and stopped their illegal blocking of calls to Iowa. However, the rural Iowa telcos and free conferencing providers continue to feel the business impact of these large carriers unlawfully withholding $10 million-plus in outstanding invoices for services provided by the smaller carriers."

Led by attorney Jonathan E. Canis from Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, the group of rural Iowa telcos and free conferencing providers has scheduled a series of meetings with each of the five FCC Commissioners and with members of Congress, which will be held between April 18 and 20, 2007 in Washington, DC.

"The blocking of calls to Iowa by the big carriers, which generated over 1,000 consumer complaints to the FCC, is a flagrant violation of the FCC's rules and the Communications Act," said Mr. Canis. "We will be asking the FCC to investigate this and other unlawful actions that the big carriers are conducting in their campaign against the Iowa telcos. The big carriers knowingly broke the law in blocking phone numbers and withholding payment for service -- ten million dollars may be a drop in the bucket to these major carriers but not to us. The FCC has the authority to investigate these major carriers, and to impose fines if it concludes that their actions violate the Communications Act."

"In advance of our meetings this week, we are circulating an open letter that demonstrates that the number blocking campaign and other forms of self-help by the big carriers are unquestionably illegal, and that they are inflicting severe harm, not just on the rural Iowa telcos, but on thousands of consumers across the country who use the services that we provide," said Mr. Laudner.

About The Farmers Telephone Company of Riceville, Iowa

Farmers Telephone Company of Riceville, Iowa is a full-service telecommunications provider offering the highest quality services at the most competitive rates to North Central Iowa for more than 100 years. Farmers Telephone Company offers local, long distance, digital cable television service including HDTV, broadband service including DSL, cable and licensed wireless. The company also provides VoIP and data management solutions to SOHO, small and medium size businesses and recently added GSM PCS wireless technology to its suite of services for several rural counties in North Central Iowa. Its new high tech home solutions division provides home automation, sound, theater, wiring and lighting to rural Iowa. Farmers Telephone Company employs 31 and participates in an extensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) program that has donated more than $500,000 to local schools, community groups/events, fund raisers and economic development campaigns.

© 2007 The Farmers Telephone Company of Riceville, Iowa. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Source: Business Wire

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