Byrd Campbell, P.A. Announces Investigation Of AT&T's Suspected Abuses Of E-Rate Program

Law firm Byrd Campbell PA and telecom and utilities audit firm Troy & Banks today announced they are investigating  the E-Rate Program practices of AT&T for over-charging certain telecommunication services provided to school districts in Florida's Orange and Dixie Counties 

The law firm of Byrd Campbell, P.A., in conjunction with the telecommunications and utilities audit firm of Troy & Banks, announces an investigation into the E-Rate Program practices of AT&T based upon the recent Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 27, 2016, which found that AT&T Southeast "apparently willfully and repeatedly violated" the Telecommunications Act of 1934, and the related FCC rules, by failing to offer and charge the "lowest corresponding price" (LCP) for certain telecommunication services to Orange County and Dixie County school districts in Florida.

Under the E-Rate Program, telecommunications companies are required to charge schools and libraries no more than the lowest corresponding price for services which other non-residential customers are charged for similar services. The policy behind the E-Rate program is to provide "upper limits" price protections for the protected classes (e.g., schools and libraries) without their having to negotiate or ask for the lowest corresponding price at the outset.   In the case of Orange County and Dixie Country schools, the overcharges, which the FCC stated "were some of the highest charged to any customer in the state," totaled tens of thousands of dollars.

"The E-Rate program has one of the most laudable objectives of any governmental program, to protect children and the precious resources of our libraries, which are among the most vulnerable groups in our society. The FCC's ruling finding should open everyone's eyes to scrutinize whether AT&T [or any other carrier] has followed the E-Rate Program," said Tucker H. Byrd, founder of Byrd & Campbell, who has worked on the Orange County claim with Tom Ranallo of Troy & Banks.

Source: Byrd Campbell release