AT&T Complains Google Voice Violates FCC's Net Neutrality

SEATTLE — AT&T Inc. said Friday that Google Inc.'s Internet phone program gets an unfair advantage from blocking calls to rural communities where local carriers charge high connection fees.

In a letter to federal regulators, AT&T said Google Voice keeps costs low by refusing to connect calls to places where some local carriers give phone numbers to adult chat lines and conference-calling services to draw long distance calls. They share hefty connection fees AT&T must pay.

Dallas, Texas-based AT&T, however, has been barred by the Federal Communications Commission from blocking such calls. The high fees force AT&T to raise prices for all of its customers, while Google can offer calls through the Google Voice software at very low rates.

Google Voice gives people an additional phone number that's not tied to any one phone line. People can program the service to direct incoming calls to their cell phone, home or work numbers. Users can get e-mail transcripts of voice mails through the service. It can also be used to send text messages and place calls – even international ones – at low rates paid to Google, not the carriers, though those calls do use cell phone plan minutes.

AT&T said that Google should not be exempt from the ban because Google Voice "appears to be nothing more than a creatively packaged assortment of services that are already quite familiar to the commission."

AT&T's letter also hammered on what it saw as a contradiction between call blocking and Google's support for "net neutrality," the idea that all types of data are treated equally by both wired and wireless Internet service providers.

In a blog post, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said it isn't a traditional phone carrier, so it's not subject to the call-blocking ban. It also made the case that it's not a direct competitor to AT&T because Google Voice users still must have a land line or a mobile phone to use the service.

Google also objected to the net neutrality argument because the Web search leader is not a service provider.

AT&T asked the FCC to stop rural carriers from boosting incoming calls and charging high fees, or in the absence of such a decision, to hold Google accountable to the same rules.

FCC spokeswoman Jen Howard said the commission had received AT&T's letter and is reviewing it.

Comments

[local21]

How much money has Google invested in cell towers and the placing fiber optic cable?

[sheaintsayin]

Oh yeah, AT&T, I got something for you, too! Complain, indeed; you are the problem!

[InofTouch]

I just say that everyone should be on the same level regardless of what you label yourself either telecommunication or internet services

[egaeus]

In addition, I find the Huffington Post to be hypocritical. They claim to be a liberal Web site and against censorship, yet the other day, they accepted money from and ran a giant ad for Siemens, the telecom giant that aided Iran in censoring their Internet. According to Democracy Now,

"The Wall Street Journal reports European telecommunications companies have helped the Iranian government develop one of the world’s most sophisticated mechanisms for controlling and censoring the internet. The monitoring capability was provided at least in part by a joint venture of the German-based Siemens AG and Nokia, the Finnish cellphone company. Using the technology, the Iranian government appears to be engaging in a practice often called deep packet inspection, which enables authorities not only to block communication but to monitor it to gather information about individuals, as well as alter it for disinformation purposes."

[egaeus]

Once again, capitalist crybaby AT&T snivels to the government to solve their problems. AT&T doesn't mind attempting to eliminate public access to the airwaves by lobbying local governments to change laws and lift that requirement for cable companies; and they don't mind trying to greedily divide the Internet up so that the haves have a voice while the have nots disappear; and they certainly don't mind shirking their responsibilities as law abiding citizens and allowing the government to spy on American citizens. But when the democratic (and I use the term loosely) controls of our system don't fall in their favor, these big business blowhards, who favor the free market and less regulation and who detest socialism, run to the same government that they want out of their affairs to make everything all better.

[elspaniard]

Once again, AT&T pointing fingers to try and keep the spotlight off of them and their horrible, overpriced, monopolistic "services" and laughable coverage.

iPhone users who only have the Edge network available to them *still* pay the same rate as those who have the 3G network available to them, which is a totally unfair and greedy plan price structure. So I have zero sympathy for AT&T when they start pissing and moaning about someone "cheating" them for once.

[weatherwaxx]

Poor widdle AT&T is complaining that somebody else is more successfully greedy than they are? Spare me.

[thats2much]

Its all about greed. While ATT is complaining, they are laying off people that are only months away from retirement, in effect killing their pensions and health care. I think they are getting what they deserve for not being loyal to the people that have made them the giant that they are today. While at the same time paying a few good ol boys millions of dollars in salary and benefits. Look at Ed Whittacre the new chairman of General Motors. He left ATT with hundreds of millions of dollars, now he has a pet project (GM). the good ol boy network is alive and well, and president obama who promised changed is right in the middle.

[Christina Lane]

I just find every time I read a press release about Google, they are cutting into someone else's business. It's like they can't innovate unless they're on someone else's back. And I am not pleased one bit with their approach to publishing. They just step all over toes all over the place!

I mean, I get massive long distance bills, and I am not thrilled at all about this, but that's another matter.

So far as net neutrality, that could get seriously frightening— because the pharma companies and doctors and academics and religious leaders and politicians would be cutting out the KNOWLEDGE, and all we'd be left with is porn. But I am not sure anybody in IT has the social intelligence either to determine what the general public gets access to, either. It's a bit of a tunnel in here. There is so much out of control advancement in the field that I barely know where to start in terms of offering critique. It's bad for the environment. But who can you trust to make those kinds of decisions?

[Helzapoppin]

It's long past time the communications infrastructure were taken out of private hands. Just as movie studios were once forced to divest themselves of monopolistic theater chains, phone, tv and internet providers should not have control of the means of delivery. An open network which allows equal access to all content and service providers would ignite true competition and consumers would benefit greatly. Instead of choosing between either the ONE local phone carrier's DSL and/or phone service or the ONE local cable company's offerings, we would have hundreds of choices of better quality and at a greatly reduced cost.

[Christina Lane]

Yeah— just like the banking machines brought us so many lower-cost options! Tacking on fee after fee until their profits quadrupled in the space of five short years! Digitizing things has NOT been a cost benefit for the consumer. It has been empowering to computer industry pioneers, though. But the power-base has still not shifted. You're just being raped by parallel industry, and forced to pull one trick up your sleeves every other week in order to keep up with the demands on your time.

[charmedgreenquark]

For those who do not know, Google Voice is a service that directs calls to your already existing phones. I work inside a building that gets poor cell phone reception. I give out my Google Voice number so that calls go to both my office phone and to my cell phone in case I'm away from my desk or on the road. What it is not, is a phone carrier. It is more like a switchboard of sorts to your existing phones.

[Christina Lane]

Google needs to relax and find it's own way, and quit stealing off everybody else's plate. All of it is anti-competitive behavior.

[Snowball]

If you want to see anti-competitive behavior, just see what would happen if there's no Net Neutrality. ISPs will be able to block access to information from other providers and their competitors. Don't think that would happen? It already has. Do you really want your ISP to control what sites you can visit or what information you can have access to over the internet?

[Vizavi]

Are you kidding me AT&T? On top of the monthly fee AT&T charges high rates for long-distance, even for calls that are just over 8 miles distance. Long distance fees are fine, but they are high like if we are still live in the age before VOIP. Either adapt or you keep loosing to Vonage, Google, Skype and others.

[ydrittmann]

Losing not loosing.

[charmedgreenquark]

How is Google Voice "stealing"? How is providing a service "anti-competitive behavior"?