Topping The List

Complaints against telephone companies topped the list of ten major categories of complaints by consumers to the Better Business Bureau of metropolitan Washington, D.C. And they didn't squeak into first place, with 257% more complaints than the next closest category (computer sales/service). The early 1980s marked the breakup of the phone company and the introduction of the open standards personal computer (PC). Who among us could have foreseen that one day, understanding the inner workings and hidden mechanisms of a computer would be easier than understanding your phone bill?

The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) have long been resisting paying reciprocal fees to some other companies - despite their classification as 'carriers'. (OTE 2/00: Pacific Bell Resists Paying Termination Compensation) On March 24, 2000 the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the FCC ruling that dial-up connections to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) were 'long distance' calls and therefore exempt from compensation. Between the time of the FCC ruling and the Appeals Court decision, a majority of state regulators have superceded the FCC's decision (Inter@ctive Week, 4/2/00, p I-6)
  

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