Clearly the states and the FCC are playing catch-up. Besides Internet-based services like Pulver’s FreeWorld Dialup and upstart Vonage, even the big boys are making waves – AT&T, MCI and others are embracing VoIP. So the question for corporations is, will any of this largely consumer activity affect corporate VoIP plans?
The Michigan Public Service Commission announced last week it will investigate the regulatory issues swirling around VoIP, joining a number of other states that are taking the matter into their own hands instead of waiting for the FCC to mandate an approach.
Besides Michigan, states serious about VoIP regulation include Alabama, California, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.
This has the potential of leading to a patchwork of regulation and is putting pressure on the FCC to act. The FCC issued its first VoIP decision February 12 when it ruled in the so-called Pulver Order that “an entirely Internet-based VoIP service was an unregulated information service.”
That means that services such as FreeWorld Dialup, an Internet-based phone service offered by Jeff Pulver, president and CEO of Pulver.com, can sidestep existing telecom regulations and associated fees and taxes. Pulver says it also gave the FCC a way to send a message to states about the direction of VoIP regulation.
“One politician called me the Rosa Parks of telecom,” Pulver says.
The FCC has since opened a broader inquiry, but the process gets thorny from here because: One, a host of heavy issues gets stirred in, such as universal service requirements and the need for wiretapping; and two, it’s unclear how to regulate calls that are on the switched network one minute and on the Internet the next, which will become increasingly common, even for mainstream telecom.
Regarding the former, FCC Chairman Michael Powell wrote: “Rules designed to ensure law enforcement access, universal service, disability access and emergency 911 service can and should be preserved in the new architecture.”
Clearly the states and the FCC are playing catch-up. Besides Internet-based services like Pulver’s FreeWorld Dialup and upstart Vonage, even the big boys are making waves – AT&T, MCI and others are embracing VoIP.
So the question for corporations is, will any of this largely consumer activity affect corporate VoIP plans? In a word, no, because most all-corporate VoIP implementations are across private networks that the regulations don’t touch – few companies are willing to risk voice quality to the public Internet.
But, warns Pulver, there are some in Washington that would peel back that protective cover and also regulate private networks. The stakes are too great to leave it to chance. Get in touch with your representatives to explain the issue, the stakes and your views.
