Telephone consumers in rural areas across Iowa and many other states are experiencing problems with long distance phone calls not being completed or suffering from a range of call quality issues. Sometime the phone on the receiving end rings but the caller’s voice cannot be heard once the phone is answered. Sometimes the voice quality is so poor the call is not productive. There are also reported problems with receiving faxed documents and difficulties with debit and credit transactions at the point of sale.

These problem calls are very frustrating for consumers who may not receive them, and it can be very costly for business to miss calls from customers or suppliers. Telephone subscribers turn to their local telephone company for resolution. Unfortunately these calling problems, originate outside of the USA Communications local telephone network, and therefore cannot be “fixed” by USA Communications. The problem calls, which move from one company’s network to a second and often a third and fourth network, often do not even reach the USA Communications network.

National telephone associations have gathered information on the scope of these issues and have concluded that this is an epidemic effecting the routing of calls to customers in rural areas nationwide. They have contacted the FCC Enforcement Bureau and asked for an investigation to identify the cause of the long distance call completion problems. The FCC Enforcement Bureau is currently meeting with several of the national long distance carriers to gather information. It is our hope that these problems will be identified and corrected in the near future.

If someone attempting to call you experiences call completion problems, it is helpful to gather as many information as possible including: