Can ILECs and CLECs charge other interconnecting carriers whatever termination costs they feel like setting? If the FCC sets regulatory limits on the termination costs, how does the FCC determinate what the maximum rate is per exchange?
It might be understandable that some rural exchange carriers have higher operating costs justifying a bit higher termination fees than urban areas, but why are rates so all over the map that even a single carrier with multiple NPA-NXX exchanges within the same major city or even rate center charges differing termination costs for different NPA-NXX exchanges? It would be much more efficient and logical to have a limited set of categories of termination fees (i.e. rural, suburban, urban, wireless, etc.) and have a single rate for each category that all exchanges would be required to fit themselves into. This would avoid the current scenario of having hundreds and hundreds (if not more) of different termination costs across the U.S.
Also, given that local number portability means that many different carriers share numbers within the same NPA-NXX-X, is the rate set by the originally assigned carrier for the given NPA-NXX, and any CLECs that ported a number from that exchange must accept payment at the rate set by the original carrier?
Finally, are there still different termination costs depending whether the call is originating from a CLEC (local) or IXC (long distance)? Are the calls delivered differently by CLECs than IXCs that would justify such differences?
And while on the topic, does the FCC limit what U.S. carriers are permitted to pay in international termination to foreign carriers? Or can foreign carriers charge however high fees they feel like?
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