THE Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission has initiated an investigation of possible violations of the Fiber Optic Communications Facilitation and Competitive Telecommunications Act of 1996 due to the continuous inter-island phone toll charges.
Lawmakers and other public and private entities have been seeking for the abolition of Verizon’s phone charges for calls between the islands.
In a meeting on Thursday night, the commission instructed acting CTC Executive Director Adam Turner to determine the status of the government’s lawsuit against the former Micronesian Telecommunications Commission which is now Verizon.
Acting CTC Chairman J. Michael Fitzgerald yesterday said the commission’s investigation will seek comments from Verizon, legislators, mayors, the Attorney General’s Office, customers and other entities regarding the Fiber Act and the inter-island phone charges.
“They think that the inter-island phone calls should not be charged. We want to get everybody’s input on the issue,” Fitzgerald told Variety.
Verizon charges 15 cents per minute for direct-dial inter-island calls. However, it allows regular phone users a 30-minute free monthly inter-island call.
Fitzgerald said the inter-island charges also discourage Internet service competition because other private companies cannot afford the 15-cent-per-minute charges by Verizon.
Anthony Mosley, acting general manager of Verizon, said CTC has the responsibility to protect the interests of the customers and its investors.
“What’s important is that this Fiber Act has helped this economy. It is also important to make a regulatory climate that protects investors,” Mosley said in a separate interview.
The Rota and the Tinian legislative delegations recommended that CTC includes as a condition of any sale of Verizon the elimination of inter-island telephone charges assessed on CNMI consumers.
John Day, Asia Pacific director for Startec Global Communications, also raised a formal complaint with CTC on Verizon’s inter-island calls.
“It is our position that all calls between the islands of the CNMI should be free and no charges should be assessed,” said Day in a May 14 letter.
Saipan residents Bruce Lloyd and Remedio Lloyd, in a letter to CTC, also noted MTC’s promise in 1996 that it would not charge for inter-island calls.
