Beware of this one: Google eric brown clec
>From: Trixter aka Bret McDanel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED],Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk >Discussion<asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com> >To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk >Discussion<asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com> >Subject: [asterisk-biz] CLEC formation was Re: MagicJack >Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:23:56 +0100 > > >On Tue, 2008-03-25 at 08:00 -0500, Mike Hammett wrote: > > Tell them I sent you. > > > > http://www.lokt.net/ > > > On Friday 21 March 2008 12:29:38 pm Nitzan Kon wrote: > > > So how does one get CLEC status? Say, in only one state? Just > > > curious.... > > > <evil grin> > > > > >I dont have experience with this firm, but I do agree with its >sentiment, that its generally better to hire lawyers and/or consultants >to help people along given that there is a TON of filings that generally >have to be done, and they have to be done right. The law firm should >specialize in telecom law, just as you want a heart surgeon to >specialize in hearts, and wouldnt have a angioplasty performed by a >podiatrist. > >Just knowing what filings have to be filed is important, and they have >to be filed in a specific order, do them out of order and you may have >to start over on some things, miss one and it can cost you months of >trying to refile stuff. The process on a good day takes 6-9 months on a >bad day well over 24 months. With many of the things you have to submit >them for approval (tariffs for example, some states even the >interconnection agreements have to be approved). There are shortcuts >and a good consultant or lawyer will know them and use them to your >advantage (such as basically taking already approved tariffs from >someone else and replacing their name with yours, speeds the approval >process). > >Then once you have your CLEC status you have to continue to file stuff, >pay taxes and fees, etc. And each state has its own regulations (50 >states, DC is a territory, as are a few other territories not >considered US generally, puerto rico, guam, US virgin islands, etc). If >you traffic minutes across LATAs you have to get IXC status which has >its own regulations, taxes and fees. All of these things are generally >exempt from VoIP providers (although the line is blurring with the >"interconnected VoIP provider" rules). > >In addition to the state you have to file federally too, so even one >state has at least 2 governments that you have to file with. To do >CONUS (US48 + DC) you have 50 governments to file with, taxes are >different per state, and CLECs are generally exempt from all subsidies >as well (ie NECA), but they have to pay to the fund. > >Its a regulatory quagmire. I personally dont recommend it unless its a >real business need, and compensation generally isnt a good enough need >because almost all CLECs see almost no compensation per minute. The FCC >cap on intercarrier compensation is generally 0.0007/min iirc, with some >special exceptions that are almost impossible for a CLEC to fit into. > >Of course with anything there are alternatives and sometimes it takes >someone who has been down that road and discovered some of them to show >all the short cuts that are available. There is power in this >information, a point not lost on consulting firms that specialize in >clec formation. That is why many CLEC consultants charge no less than >$50k to share their knowledge. > >-- >Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com Bret McDanel >Belfast +44 28 9099 6461 US +1 516 687 5200 >http://www.trxtel.com the phone company that pays you! > > >_______________________________________________ >--Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com-- > >asterisk-biz mailing list >To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com-- asterisk-biz mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz