FCC Opens Study of Net Telephony
Federal regulators opened a major examination Thursday into voice services offered through Internet technology, saying they would tread lightly and focus on social and public safety issues such as 911 emergency calling.
A day after California regulators acted on the same issue, the Federal Communications Commission said it would assess the market and determine the need for rules governing so-called voice-over-Internet-protocol technology, which sends voice over high-speed data lines in much the way e-mail is sent.
“As new and innovative ways to communicate have emerged, so too have calls for us to examine the appropriate public policy for highly innovative, highly efficient services based on Internet protocol,” FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell said.
Separately, the three-Republican majority on the commission voted to give VoIP provider Free World Dialup in New York the green light to offer its free membership service, which is based on computer-to-computer connections and largely bypasses the public phone system.
The approval keeps the Internet “free from unnecessary government regulation,” preempts state regulation and “removes barriers to investment and deployment” of Internet services, Powell said. The majority found Free World to be an “information service,” not a telecommunications operation subject to a plethora of rules.
But the FCC’s two Democrats warned that the agency was approving one form of VoIP before starting to evaluate the kinds of VoIP providers in the marketplace and the framework for any rules governing them.
“We leap before we look,” said Commissioner Michael J. Copps, noting that the commission didn’t address the consequences of deciding that Free World Dialup was an information service.
“This headlong rush ... presents stark challenges for law enforcement and has implications for universal service, public safety and state and federal relationships that we have yet to untangle or assess,” he warned.
Jeff Pulver, who founded Free World Dialup, said he was pleased with the decision.
“The FCC has sent a strong signal to consumers and capital markets that the FCC is not interested in subjecting [his kind of operation] to traditional voice telecom regulation,” Pulver said.
After the FCC meeting, regulators said the agency would deal with similar requests on a case-by-case basis.
They also said the agency would open another rule-making procedure this spring to address law enforcement concerns. The key one is the ability to tap into VoIP conversations, which VoIP providers are not required to allow.
California Public Utilities Commission member Susan P. Kennedy took the FCC’s action in opening the comprehensive rule-making process as a message to state regulators not to rush to regulate VoIP service.
On Wednesday, the PUC had voted to open its own investigation into possible rules for VoIP providers, and Kennedy said the state should be a leader on the issue.
“It is my hope that the California investigation ... will complement the FCC’s effort,” Kennedy said Thursday, reiterating her belief that the state should be “front and center in this national debate.”
