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Voice over Net Innovators Announce New Initiative
“VoIP is not another flavor of telephone service. It’s a new frontier in
communications for individuals and businesses alike, and it requires
forward-thinking regulatory approaches” said Peter Pitsch, Communications
Policy Director for Intel Corporation. “If we subject this new technology
to legacy telecom regulation, consumers and business users will miss out
on the new services, increased choices and better prices that VoIP can
deliver.” “U.S. policies have been an enormous success making the U.S. a
leader in the development of VoIP and providing an influential policy
model that has been emulated by many other countries. If we were to
abandon this approach, we could jeopardize our leadership."
Sam
Shiffman, executive vice president at PointOne said that with the right
public policies, VoIP can help deliver new innovations and more affordable
ways to communicate. It also can be a force for increased competition, a
platform for innovation, a driver of broadband deployment, and an enabler
of economic growth.
Regulatory Light Touch Fits All VoIP Services
The
group of companies, coming together under the banner of the Voice on the
Net or VON Coalition, expressed concern that ongoing policy reviews could
lead to new regulatory barriers that would slow VoIP adoption and delay
the extraordinary benefits of VoIP. In particular, the Coalition believes
policymakers must refrain from applying traditional telecom regulation
that could stifle VoIP benefits. The Coalition’s statement of principles
acknowledges that there are important social policy issues where the FCC
and state regulators have a legitimate role. But the companies believe
these concerns can be addressed without imposing legacy regulation on
VoIP. The coalition intends to develop and highlight new policy
solutions.
The
VON Coalition supports efforts to address a number of critical issues like
the availability of 911 emergency services and law enforcement
surveillance, but believes that these and other legitimate concerns can be
addressed without imposing heavy regulation on VoIP. The Coalition also
favors taking a new look at the Universal Service Fund to ensure its
sustainability through a system of fair contributions from all providers
of telephone number-based communications services. Likewise, the group
favors an overhaul of the outmoded inter-carrier compensation regime,
which is now a hodgepodge of implicit subsidies, as a way to ensure fair
compensation for carriers.
“In
particular, regulators should avoid imposing above-cost access fees to any
type of Internet application, including any form of VoIP,” said Tom Evslin,
Chairman and CEO, ITXC . “Applying excessive access fees to an innovative
new service will drive up costs to consumers, stall innovation, and slow
VoIP adoption – but without any economic justification.”
Evslin said that regulatory mistakes are the greatest potential roadblock
for extending the benefits of VoIP to more Americans. He said technical
challenges such as integrating 911 service with VoIP technology are
already being addressed voluntarily by the industry in cooperation with
public safety and security officials.
“VoIP is a transformative technology,” said Marilyn Cade, director, law
and government affairs, at AT&T. “A light touch by regulators will enable
VoIP to transform communications and will bring enhanced productivity to
businesses and more choices to consumers.”
Outreach Planned to Federal and State Regulators
Rick Whitt MCI’s director of federal law and policy said the Coalition
will help educate, inform and promote responsible policies that don't
stifle innovations with heavy handed regulation that delays the benefits
that VoIP can deliver.
“We
are going to engage in direct outreach to policymakers at the state and
federal level; work with public safety and security officials on new
policy solutions; and participate in proceedings and debates throughout
the country,” Whitt noted.
“Together, we are on the cutting edge of developing and delivering a new
generation of voice innovations. We expect to participate actively in the
current FCC and state processes –meeting with and informing policymakers
in order to advance policies that will foster the development and
deployment of VoIP,” Dave Svanda, a former Michigan telecom regulator and
a coalition spokesperson said.
“The FCC’s new regulatory proceeding signals the start of a critical phase
that could determine how and when consumers benefit from the lower prices,
new services, and advanced communication features that VoIP can deliver,”
said John Boidock a Texas Instruments vice president. “The VoIP community
must speak with a unified voice, behind a common set of principles, to
make sure that unfounded fears do not prevent consumers from enjoying the
benefits of VoIP services.”
A
list of the Coalition members follows:
AT&T.
For more
than 125 years, AT&T has been known for unparalleled quality and
reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development
capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long
distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.
Callipso
provides enhanced IP services to telecommunications carriers, enterprises
and the prepaid card market. It is based in Los Angeles, CA.
Convedia Corporation
is based in Vancouver, Canada. It is a supplier of next-generation IP
media services.
IceNet of Dallas, TX, provides VoIP infrastructure to VoIP Application Service Providers and Broadband Providers for enhanced local, long distance, toll-free and DID services.
iBasis, based
in Burlington, MA provides wholesale international telecommunications
services, and has carried more than 6 billion minutes of international
voice traffic.
Intel is the
world’s largest chip maker. Based in Santa Clara, CA, it also
manufactures computer, networking and communications products.
Intrado,
based in Longmont, CO., provides emergency service solutions, including
911 infrastructure, to the public safety and telecommunications
industries.
ITXC
Corp of
Princeton, NJ is a leading carrier of international telecommunications
traffic and a leader in VoIP international calling.
MCI, with
headquarters in Ashburn, VA, is a leading provider of global
communications services and operates an expansive IP backbone.
PointOne is a
VoIP network provider and offers IP communications services to the
provider community. It is based in Austin, TX.
Texas Instruments
of Dallas, TX is a leader in digital signal processing and analog
technologies to meet signal processing requirements and support the
development of IP telephony.
February 23, 2004
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