Call Blocking by Large Carriers Impacting Non-Profits, Religious Groups and Small Business

The Amish are one religious community which has been impacted by conference blocking by large carriers.



Great Lakes Communication Corp. (GLCC), an Iowa telecommunications company offering alternative conferencing solutions, today acknowledged that its non-profit organizations, religious groups and small business customers are still feeling the impact from losing their conferencing service as AT&T, Sprint/Nextel, and Qwest made the choice to block calls.

"While AT&T/AT&T Wireless has backed down due to the pressures exerted by public interest groups, legislators, consumers, bloggers and others, major carriers such as Sprint and Qwest continue to impede many organizations that rely on our conferencing partners to power their operations," said Josh Nelson, president, Great Lakes Communication Corp. "Non profit organizations such as California Hunger Action Coalition, the Amish/Mennonite religious community and small businesses such as Arnold & Associates are feeling the pains of the continued call blocking."

Communications Conduit for Amish and Mennonites Taken Away
After the tragic shooting in October 2006 that claimed the lives of five young girls, the Amish and Mennonite community used a conference line for support, information and prayer. Since this religious group relied on the telephone as a valuable communications tool, this conference bridge was its conduit to the happenings surrounding this tragic event. The community set up a conference line, powered by No Cost Conference (a GLCC partner), that became a source of information, but more importantly has been used for healing, prayer and support. Over the last month, the major carriers have blocked access to this critical communications resource, leaving more than 30,000 Amish and Mennonites in North America without their valuable communications tool.

Plans for California Hunger Action Day Thwarted by Call Blocking
Non-profit organizations such as the California Hunger Action Coalition depend upon free conferencing services like FreeConference.com (another GLCC partner) to connect its volunteers statewide with free conference calling. According to Frank Tamborello, executive director of Hunger Action Los Angeles and co-chairperson of the Coalition, the blocked calls, if they continue, will interrupt planning of the coalition's annual event, Hunger Action Day, on May 8. "Our statewide coordination and activities have come to a complete halt as a result of these anti-market activities," added Mr. Tamborello. "We were recently blocked when a group of members on the Central Coast scheduled a call, but half the callers were unable to access it. The bottom line is that these moves by the large carriers are appalling."

Small businesses such as Arnold & Associates, LLC, a Falmouth, MA-based business development firm, are losing touch with their customers due to the call blocking. "Our customers are emerging companies without the financial resources to pay for conferencing services," said Doug Arnold, managing director of Arnold & Associates, LLC. "We touch these companies weekly via multiple conference calls that are used as a forum for guidance and valuable input to help take their businesses to the next level." According to Mr. Arnold, his free conferencing service has been the critical communications pipeline to accelerate growth. "In the early stages of development, it is vital to communicate daily and, if we had to pay for these conference calls, there would be no progress. In the spirit of free commerce, these entrepreneurs of tomorrow will never have a chance today if the call blocking by the carriers continues," he added.

With customers such as the ones above still suffering from the call blocking, GLCC has embarked on an all out grassroots campaign to spur its state legislators, representatives in Congress, U.S. Senators, and local/national public interest groups to write the FCC Commissioners to help them understand the severity and impact of this call blocking on their constituents. The company will join with peer telcos and free conferencing providers to present its position to the FCC from April 18-20 in Washington, DC. "Carriers that choose to continue blocking calls as the impetus to settle a dispute is unjust with far reaching consequences impacting organizations with limited financial resources. These disputes need to be settled in the courts -- not by shutting down service to the people," added Nelson.

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Photo by Matthew Trump. GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2