Oct
18
2011
Rural Call Completion Workshop
9:00 am - 12:15 pm EDT
Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, DC
On Sept. 26, the FCC announced the creation of the Rural Call Completion Task Force to investigate and address the growing problem of calls to rural customers that are being delayed or that fail to connect. The Release noted that the Task Force would hold a workshop on October 18 to identify specific causes of the problem and to discuss potential solutions with key stakeholders. The Agenda for the workshop follows.
9:15 am Opening Remarks
9:30 – 10:30 am Panel One: Rural Call Completion Problems - Causes and Effects
Moderator:
- Jeff Goldthorp, Associate Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security
Discussion Topics:
- Analysis of symptoms and scope of problem based upon data collected
- Effects on customers
- Possible causes, including roles of least-cost routing, wireless call quality,
- IP-based technology interoperability, and incidence of intentional call blocking
Panelists:
- Robert Gnapp, NECA
- Fritz Hendricks, Onvoy Voice Services
- Denny Law, Golden West Telecommunications
- Dave Lewis, ANPI / Zone Telecom
- Kim Meola, AT&T Services, Inc.
- Dale Merten, Toledo Telephone
- Tami Spocogee, PAETEC
10:30 – 10:45 am Question and Answer Session with Panel
10:45 – 11:00 am Break
11:00 – 12:00 pm Panel Two: How Can Rural Call Completion Problems be Addressed
Moderator:
- Deena Shetler, Associate Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC
Discussion Topics:
- Facilitating information sharing among carriers
- Least cost routing contracts requirements
- Industry-consensus solutions including best practices, interoperability and performance profiles, and new technical standards
- Possible regulatory solution
Panelists:
- Scott Booth, Verizon
- Jill Canfield, NTCA
- Martin Corso, TDS Telecommunications Corp.
- Penn Pfautz, AT&T Services, Inc.
- Rick Ratliff, Sprint
12:00 – 12:15 pm Question and Answer Session with Panel
Related Materials
- Public Notice (04/18/2013)
- New Proposed Rule Making on Rural Call Completion Issues
- Declaratory Ruling on Rural Call Completion Issues
- New Year Solutions for Rural Call Completion Problems
- Presentation of Toledo Telephone
- Presentation of AT&T
- Public Notice (10/14/2011)
- News Release (9/26/2011)