Google enables traffic-pumping workaround on Voice, calls for reform

In the latest development of the Google vs. AT&T traffic-pumping argument, Google has revealed that it is no longer blocking huge swaths of numbers by denying access to certain telephone prefixes. Now it claims to only be blocking about 100 specific phone numbers on its much-anticipated Google Voice.

The latest move still technically violates the termination rules that require phone service providers to allow users to make calls to all numbers--even ones where local operators charge expensive termination fees--but it at least alleviates some of the other claims that the broad blocking attempt was denying service to unsuspecting rural residents and a nunnery. The sub-100 numbers Google is blocking include so-called traffic pumpers like free conference call lines and adult-oriented call lines.

At the end of the day, Google's Internet voice play is still operating under different rules than what companies like AT&T are bound to and thus the telecom companies will continue pushing the FCC to extend the rules to offerings like Google Voice. In an article on CNET, a counsel for Google, Richard Whitt, was quoted as saying: "While we've developed a fix to address this problem, the bottom line is that we still believe the Commission needs to repair our nation's broken carrier compensation system. The current system simply does not serve consumers well and these types of schemes point up the pressing need for reform."

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