Background: The U.S. Appeals Court in Washington today ordered
the FCC to delay implementation of its rules for handling
"slamming" complaints. MCI WorldCom sought the stay in order
to give the FCC more time to consider a less complicated and more
consumer-friendly industry plan for resolving disputes regarding the
unauthorized switching of a consumer's telecom carrier. That plan
was submitted jointly earlier this year by MCI WorldCom, AT&T, the
Competitive Telecommunications Association, the Telecommunications
Resellers Association, Sprint, Qwest, Frontier, and Excel.
When the FCC adopted its anti-slamming rules late last year, it
recognized that they would be extremely difficult to implement and
invited industry to formulate a more effective mechanism for dealing
with complaints. On March 30, an industry group submitted a proposal
calling for a neutral, industry-funded "Third Party
Administrator" (TPA) to switch consumers back to their preferred
carriers and, if appropriate, ensure credits are issued.
On the same day the industry group filed the TPA proposal, it asked
the FCC to delay its original rules until it acted on the TPA proposal.
The industry group has identified several critical reasons why the
FCC's original rules will not work. Various consumer groups,
including the Consumer Federation of America and the Small Business
Survival Committee, have advised the FCC that they prefer a TPA
solution to the FCC's current rules.
The FCC has sought comment on the TPA plan but has refused to delay
implementation of its own rules - which became effective yesterday --
pending a vote on the industry proposal. When it became clear that the
FCC was not going to act in a timely manner, MCI WorldCom asked the
appeals court to stay implementation of the unworkable rules.
The following statement should be attributed to Jonathan B. Sallet,
MCI WorldCom Chief Policy Counsel:
"We are hopeful that the FCC will use the opportunity to adopt
workable, independent protections for consumers. The industry and the
FCC want the same thing - a swift and efficient mechanism for combating
unauthorized carrier switches. MCI WorldCom has taken a leadership role
in developing a neutral, consumer-friendly proposal. As MCI WorldCom
and its customers are major victims of slamming, we want to work with
the FCC in its prompt consideration of the industry plan."
