Carrier Conflict: Verizon vs. Sprint

Two major mobile phone service clash over interconnection issues!

Sprint became the target of a suit filed by Verizon Communications Inc. because of an alleged failure to ailing pay in interconnection charges worth nearly $10 million. The alleged unpaid fees originated from services in mostly eastern states that are subject to tariffs filed with the Federal Communications Commission. Apparently, even multi-million companies can fall behind on their bills.

Verizon expressed that the had no choice but to file the suit because they have already tried other methods of collecting the fees. Here's a statement form the suit:

“Verizon has repeatedly attempted to resolve this dispute short of litigation. Yet these attempts, made over many months and through both written and personal communications, have been fruitless. Accordingly, Verizon has been forced to seek relief from this court.”

In response to these allegations, a Sprint Nextel spokesman made this statement:

“Because Verizon’s claims in this matter are running up against a two-year statute of limitations, this complaint comes as no surprise. This is simply a standard legal maneuver by Verizon to preserve their legal claim against us. “We remain hopeful that we can resolve this matter without any further legal action by either party.”

Sprint is currently in negotiations with the FCC to ensure AT&T Inc. is not allowed to stray from an interconnection condition. The agreement was made when AT&T completed a prerequisite to gaining approval of its merger with BellSouth Corp a couple of years ago. It's logical that Sprint wants to avert future conflicts while they are dealing with Verizon's suit as well as other complaints.

Some Mobile phone experts fear that the XOHM network launch maybe be affected by this dispute. However, some feel that this fear is unfounded because $10 million dollars is a small amount and can be easily produced by a major mobile phone company such as Sprint.

I hope that both companies can work out this problem and that this dispute will l not affect any programs that may help wireless consumers.