Missouri telcos to block T-Mobile calls

There's a good chance you might not be able to make that annual Christmas call to your relatives in Missouri this year. In an unusual dispute, a dozen small Missouri telcos have threatened to block T-Mobile's calls, saying the company owes three years' worth of fees for connecting incoming calls to local land lines. Though such "last mile" fees are not unusual, most are handled through interconnection agreements between providers. The Missouri telcos, however,
claim that T-Mobile, while proposing interconnection agreements, has declined to pay fees dating from 2001, when local regulators granted them the right to charge tariffs of up to 7.5 cents per minute (ouch!) on incoming calls.
(Earlier this year an Iowa carrier considered blocking all cellphone calls in a fee dispute, but state regulators vetoed the plan.) T-Mobile, for its part, has said it will route calls through long-distance carriers to avoid service interruptions.