Rural Call Completion
Long-distance customers in rural areas across the country, including South Dakota, are experiencing a variety of call termination issues. This issue isn’t limited to Golden West members; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports the problem affects customers nationwide and is taking steps to combat these rural call completion problems.
Issues include dead air after dialing, prolonged ringing, dropped calls, busy signals, poor call quality, inaccurate caller ID displays, inability to send/receive faxes, and recordings stating that the number dialed is not in service or the call could not be completed as dialed. We understand these issues are not only inconvenient but can impact the physical and financial well-being of our customers. The root of these problems lies in the use of least-cost routing (LCR) by intermediate providers responsible for routing calls.
Golden West, and other companies that serve rural America, are working with state and federal officials, including the FCC, to develop a solution. In 2018, Congress passed the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2017 (the RCC Act). This requires intermediate providers to register with the FCC and comply with service quality standards to help ensure calls to all Americans are completed. They must make sure all calls they handle are delivered to their destination, monitor the performance of any other intermediate providers they contract with when routing calls to rural areas, and address performance problems. The RCC Act also prohibits long-distance and wireless providers from using intermediate providers who are not registered with the FCC.
Should you experience long distance issues, gather as much information as you can, including the phone numbers involved, date and time of the call, and the caller’s service provider, if possible. Enter this data on the fillable spreadsheet and provide it to Golden West via email, mail, or fax, so it can be filed with the FCC.
Golden West Telecommunications
PO Box 411
Wall, SD 57790
FAX: (605) 279-2727
info@goldenwest.com
If you would prefer to file your documentation and complaint directly with the FCC you can do so at the link below.