By Anne Cullen

Law360 (March 27, 2020, 8:52 PM EDT) -- The Federal Communications Commission said Friday that it is lifting some rules on the company supporting conference call providers Zoom and Cisco WebEx to ensure that a spike in traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic doesn't saddle the local access provider with extra financial responsibilities.

As the U.S. workforce is increasingly encouraged to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19, the volume of Zoom and WebEx conference calls terminated in local markets by Inteliquent is skyrocketing, which will likely slot the company into a service provider category that otherwise would increase fees it pays to long-distance carriers.

However, in response to a petition lodged by Inteliquent earlier this month, the agency agreed Friday to temporarily suspend this potential recategorization until at least June to preserve Inteliquent's ability to provide these services.

"Given the sharp increase in conference calling traffic, we've granted a waiver to Inteliquent so it can continue to provide service to these platforms, specifically by avoiding unintended, negative financial consequences under our access arbitrage rules," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in Friday's press release.

The access arbitrage rules, which the agency rolled out last year, penalize local service providers for artificially inflating the incoming call traffic to net more access fees from the long-distance providers transferring the calls. When the number of calls coming into a local provider far outstrips the number of calls going out, the agency rules are triggered and the fee regime shifts, putting local service providers on the hook for some of the call costs.

Pai said Friday that these rules were intended to target "companies that have been exploiting our intercarrier compensation system by generating inflated call volumes to pad their bottom lines," not "to ensnare companies that, during a national emergency, are experiencing unprecedented call volumes that would push them out of compliance without a waiver."

The agency's decision gives Inteliquent a waiver until June, after which the company can petition for 60-day extensions. A spokesperson for Inteliquent did not respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon. 

In another move to accommodate increased demand for broadband capacity, the agency on Friday said dozens of internet providers can temporarily use spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band, which is usually reserved for auto safety purposes, to ensure that rural communities are connected during the pandemic.

This authority, which will last for 60 days, will serve counties in 29 states, including California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Texas, the agency said. 

"Like everybody else, rural Americans are facing an increased need for broadband service as more and more workers, students, and families stay home during this national emergency," Pai said Friday. "Fixed wireless broadband providers deliver this service for many communities, especially those hardest for other providers to reach."

"Giving them access to the 5.9 GHz band will help them meet their customers' needs during these challenging times."

The move drew praise from the wireless industry, as the president and CEO of the prominent trade group WISPA, Claude Aiken, said in a statement that the decision helps small providers "quickly develop and deliver new high-speed broadband offerings for their rural customers who could really use it."

The organization said its members are seeing a nearly 40% bump in traffic in peak hours, and 90% of them are receiving customer requests to add more speed to their plans. "The more capacity they can quickly put into service, the more fortified their communities are against the challenges of COVID-19," Aiken added.

Industry group WifiForward also lauded the decision Friday, calling it an "important step" to "safeguarding vital community functions and ensuring Americans are not left behind during this time of surging home and community broadband use."

--Additional reporting by Kelcee Griffis. Editing by Haylee Pearl.

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