An update on news from November 2020
All in Rural Call Completion
September 2020 News Update
An update on news from September 2020
T-Mobile Files Motion To Dismiss Rural Carriers’ Call Completion Class Action Lawsuit
T-Mobile USA, Inc. has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed against it by Craigville Telephone Co. d and Consolidated Telephone Co. related to T-Mobile’s past violations of the FCC’s rural call completion rules. In general, T-Mobile argues every claim in the complaint should be dismissed because the “Plaintiffs have failed to plead a plausible theory of injury.”
January 2020 News Update
An update on news from January 2020.
November 2019 News Update
An update on news from November 2019.
Rural Carriers Initiate Class Action Lawsuit Against T-Mobile & Inteliquent Based On Violations Of FCC Rural Call Completion Rules
Two rural communications companies have filed a class action lawsuit, individually and on behalf of a class of similarly situated companies, against T-Mobile USA, Inc., Inteliquent, Inc., and 10 Doe Defendants. The Plaintiffs are seeking relief for injuries sustained from T-Mobile’s violations of the FCC’s rural call completion rules. The claims in the lawsuit are largely based on an April 2018 Consent Decree between T-Mobile and the FCC, in which T-Mobile admitted that it violated the FCC’s rules by inserting false ring tones into calls made to rural areas and failing to police the conduct of its intermediate providers.
March 2019 News Update
A summary of news from March 2019.
T-Mobile Confesses To Violating FCC Rural Call Completion Rules
T-Mobile USA, Inc., has entered into a consent decree with the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau, ending an investigation into whether T-Mobile violated the FCC’s rural call completion rules. Under the terms of the settlement, T-Mobile must pay a $40 million civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury, and must follow a compliance plan designed to ensure T-Mobile obeys the FCC’s rural call completion rules in the future. The Enforcement Bureau also required T-Mobile to admit that it: (1) violated Section 64.2201 of the FCC’s rules prohibiting the insertion of false ring tones; and (2) did not correct problems with its Intermediate Providers’ delivery of calls to consumers in certain rural areas.
FCC Proposes New Rural Call Completion Rules
The Federal Communications Commission has released a new proposal to better address ongoing problems in the completion of long-distance telephone calls to rural areas. In a recently released Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC recommends eliminating its existing data recording and reporting rules, and replacing them with new rules that require covered long-distance carriers to hold their intermediate providers accountable for call failures.