A promising area of activity in the exchange of international traffic is the development of regional interconnection clearing houses.
The idea of a clearing house is that multiple carriers connect to the same hub, to facilitate international interconnection. (This contrasts with the traditional approach where each carrier must have interconnect arrangements in place with all other carriers, in order to complete international calls.)
Incumbent landline operators traditionally have performed this clearing house function. However, the development of competition has led to concerns that incumbent operators may seek to disadvantage entrants. This concern has prompted proposals to establish independent clearinghouses for interconnection. This idea is still largely at the inception stage.
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