AT&T really slings the mud at Google over Voice

It is officially getting nasty now. AT&T has taken its campaign against Google Voice to new lows: AT&T accused Google of blocking calls to Benedictine nuns, a congressman's campaign office and small businesses in rural areas in its fight to make Google Voice pay the same rural access fees that traditional carriers typically pay.

As I've talked about before, AT&T and Google have been going at it with the FCC over the issue of these rural numbers.

AT&T's move to call out specific examples including nuns, congressman and small business who are off of Google Voice's grid highlights the lengths which the carrier will go through to try to get Google to pony up for the rural access fees.  Their arguement - which seems legitimate on the surface is that Google gets all of the benefits of being a carrier, but has to pay none of the fees (911, rural areas etc.).  But, on the other hand, Google doesn't charge its customers for the service it provides and doesn't do that "last mile" - which it says is intended for the carriers.

The WSJ states:

AT&T said in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday that it compiled a list of well-known areas where "traffic pumpers" typically route traffic and then used Google's search engine to identify specific businesses, churches and others, including a convent of Benedictine nuns in Minnesota and the campaign office of Rep. Collin Peterson (D, Minn.), which could be getting blocked. AT&T employees then used the Google Voice service to try calling those numbers, but found the calls were blocked.

"We can now see the power of Internet-based applications providers to act as gatekeepers who can threaten the "free and open" Internet," AT&T wrote.

This coming from a company that only started letting VoIP work on their wireless network last week and still doesn't allow Sling Player or tethering from iPhone users on their network.

Google retorted:  "Google Voice is a free web application that manages peoples' existing phone numbers and isn't subject to the regulations that govern traditional phone carriers," a Google spokesman said in a statement. "Our sole intention is to isolate and restrict numbers only associated with traffic pumping schemes, which would impact our ability to offer Google Voice for free."

The larger issue here is "traffic pumping" and luckily, this fight may have and impact on that.  Senior House lawmakers disclosed they are looking into the issue of "traffic pumping," firing off letters to the U.S.'s largest carriers for information about the practice.

Henry Waxman of California has sent letters to the major telcos asking for more information on the practice as well.

Interestingly, the Journal notes: Large carriers have complained for years about the practice of "traffic pumping" and after the FCC told them two years ago that they can't block calls to those high-cost areas, some of the carriers simply stopped paying the bills to small phone companies known for doing it. 

The carriers not paying their phone bills?  Hilarious.