The Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel) is the trade association for the entire telecommunications industry. Its role is to promote competitiveness and self-regulation. As with any trade association, membership is not compulsory, but members are expected to adhere to a specific code of practice.
The origins of CompTel trace back to 1981, when they were known as the Association of Long Distance Telephone Companies (ALTEL). Their aim was to encourage companies in competition with AT&T. Since that time, the communications industry has seen many changes and CompTel have evolved accordingly through merger after merger with a sequence of similar, but transient, associations.
CompTel’s success as a consumer watchdog is evidenced by their role in FCC vs. AT&T in a saga that lasted from 2004 to 2011. The telecoms giant was discovered to have overcharged the FCC for their services in the E-rate program, an arrangement set up to help libraries and school across the United States obtain affordable internet and telecommunications access. After AT&T paid out a settlement of $200,000 to the FCC, AT&T’s customers appealed to the FCC to make public all of the documentation arising from their investigation into the matter. The consumers were represented by CompTel. Claiming exemption from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), AT&T argued that the request was an invasion of their personal privacy and filed a case with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Court found in favor of AT&T. CompTel and the consumers persisted and took the case to the Supreme Court, who reversed the ruling of the Third Circuit.
In addition to representing consumers in battles against communications companies, CompTel also sponsor educational enterprises. They sponsor the publication of reports on topics ranging from trends in recruiting to providing tips to applicants for IT certification. They also provide the power behind the Free to Compete website in an effort to educate the public on the role of competition in driving novel technologies to the marketplace.