Cellular carriers block conference calls

Are you familiar with FreeConferenceCall? It’s a plain old telephone service that lets you set up multiparty teleconferences free of charge at your own personal dial-in number.

Recently, however, it appears that cellular carriers AT&T/Cingular and Sprint Nextel have been blocking mobile calls to FreeConferenceCall numbers. The issue seems to be that independent phone companies in rural locations charge heftier termination fees to complete phone calls than do incumbent carriers in major metro areas. This is allowable so that the small telcos can recover costs in what are low-population (and thus low-revenue) locations.

The provider passing the traffic to the terminating local phone company—for example, a mobile network operator such as Cingular or Sprint—pays the termination fee. Apparently, FreeConferenceCall is helping local phone companies bring in scads more revenue by having its conference call numbers terminate in those rural areas with the comparatively high termination fees. As a result, this is costing the cellular carriers more than they budgeted for.

AT&T is actually suing a number of the independent phone companies for fraud and last week filed a letter with the FCC asking that the agency discourage such practices.

In a statement, AT&T said: “Ultimately, our goal is to address a serious and growing abuse of the regulatory process that is harmful to consumers. It is harmful to consumers because it threatens our ability to offer affordable unlimited calling plans.”

Sprint has been cagier: As of this writing, Sprint users reported being blocked from their FreeConferenceCall numbers, but Sprint help desk staff didn’t acknowledge any deliberate blockages.

Now, from the customer standpoint: This seems another example of the cellular carriers’ ferocious attempts to protect their “walled gardens”—closed networks in which the carriers dictate what resources its subscribers can access. According to FreeConferenceCall, a Cingular spokesperson has gone on record and stated that their terms of service "gives them the right to block any number they wish.”

Some FreeConferenceCall users chatting on the company’s Web site about this issue say there is nothing in their terms and services that give them a heads up that calls can be blocked at the will of the mobile operator. Others have terminated their Cingular contracts.

Source:http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/wireless/2007/0409wireless2.html