VONAGE GETS AROUND TO CHALLENGING TWO-YEAR-OLD FCC CHARGE

摘要

Vonage said an FCC regulatory fee assessed against the VoIP company in fiscal 2007 was illegal. It said the commission didn't give Congress enough advance notice of a new regulatory fee on interconnected VoIP carriers adopted that year. In an ex parte letter, Vonage said "the plain language" of Section 9 of the Communications Act requires the FCC to provide Congress 90 days' notice of a change in its regulatory fee schedule. The commission added VoIP services to its schedule less than 90 days before the October end of fiscal 2007 but charged Vonage for the year, the company said. "Because the Commission failed to explain, let alone acknowledge, its change in course when adjusting the regulatory fee schedule to include interconnected VoIP services less than 90 days prior to the end of FY 2007, the fee assessed on Vonage for FY 2007 is unlawful."