ZDNet: News: FCC to cause higher Net fees? The Association for Local
Telephone Companies (ALTS), which represents phone companies competing
with Baby Bells, says many of its clients handle calls for Internet service
providers, which tend to receive a lot of calls but not make many. These
telephone companies -- known as CLECs -- have come to rely on this
income from calls sent from Bell customers to ISPs, and they say that if
they're forced to give up this income, they'll raise the fees they charge
ISPs, which then might raise monthly fees for consumers.