VoIP regulation may heat up next year

Next year may be a big one for regulation of VoIP in the U.S., according to some Monday speakers at the Voice on the Net conference in Santa Clara.

Several petitions to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to make decisions on the services are currently pending, and some of them legally should be decided within 12 to 15 months, according to Julie Veach, an assistant chief in the FCC's wireline competition bureau, who addressed a one-day policy summit at VON.

However, major federal policy decisions on VoIP probably won't be made until at least after the November election, with the uncertainty of a possible administration change looming, said Blair Levin, a managing director at financial services company Legg Mason and a former FCC official.

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Next year may be a big one for regulation of VoIP in the U.S., according to some Monday speakers at the Voice on the Net conference in Santa Clara.

Several petitions to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to make decisions on the services are currently pending, and some of them legally should be decided within 12 to 15 months, according to Julie Veach, an assistant chief in the FCC's wireline competition bureau, who addressed a one-day policy summit at VON.

However, major federal policy decisions on VoIP probably won't be made until at least after the November election, with the uncertainty of a possible administration change looming, said Blair Levin, a managing director at financial services company Legg Mason and a former FCC official.

A state telecommunications regulator also said next year might be an opportune time to address the services before consumers start to switch en masse from traditional circuit-switched telecommunications to VoIP services. By three or four years from now, the movement could be substantial, potentially hurting government programs that depend on funds from carriers if VoIP service providers aren't required to contribute, he said.

"In a year, there's not going to be a massive migration that's going to undercut all the universal service (funds), said Carl Wood, a commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission.

At issue is how governments should treat VoIP, which is a data packet technology but to the customer looks like a voice product and thus a possible replacement for traditional circuit-switched phone service. Phone service is subject to a number of federal and state regulations and taxes that may or may not be appropriate for offerings based on the new technology. Among the issues are access charges paid to carriers for using their infrastructure, fees to support universal access to phone service, emergency 911 service, access for the disabled and support for law enforcement wiretaps.

Just as VoIP adoption has barely scratched the surface of the total telephone service market, the decisions already made on its regulation are just the beginning of what needs to be worked out, panelists said. What's needed, most said, is total reform of the regulations in light of a technology that will transform telecommunications.

The FCC has received petitions on VoIP regulation from several service providers, including Vonage Holdings, Level 3 Communications and SBC. Some are petitions for "forbearance" from regulation, which normally must be resolved within 15 months or the petitioner's request is to be granted, the FCC's Veach said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.