For Immediate Release
Contact: Hillary Crowder, 703-351-2086, [email protected]
Arlington, Va. (June 5, 2014) – NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association today issued the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield regarding the FCC’s announcement that Matrix Telecom Inc. has agreed to pay $875,000 to resolve an investigation into the company’s rural call completion practices:
“I applaud the FCC’s ongoing efforts to ensure people in rural communities are able to communicate seamlessly and safely with other parts of the country. Once again, it is clear that the unsafe and illegal practices of least-cost routers and the carriers that employ them are to blame for rural consumers’ ongoing inability to receive phone calls.
This effort by the commission further emphasizes the need for legislation like that introduced by Senator Tim Johnson earlier this year to bring least-cost routers out of the shadows and put an end to the problem once and for all. We look forward to further work with the commission and Congress to ensure that all carriers and intermediate providers get the clear message that practices that contribute to call failures simply will not be tolerated.”
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 900 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs. In an era of exploding technology, deregulation and marketplace competition, NTCA’s members are leading the IP evolution for rural consumers, delivering technologies that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. Because of their efforts, rural America is fertile ground for innovation in economic development and commerce, education, health care, government services, security and smart energy use. Visit us at www.ntca.org.