“There is a psychological barrier that has to be crossed” in regulating IP technologies like VoIP when they involve voice, FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Jeffrey Carlisle told VoIP-industry lawyers and govt. staffers. This barrier is making the states nervous as the FCC moves to regulate -- or deregulate -- in 2005, said Carlisle, who’s also chmn. of the FCC’s Internet Policy Working Group (IPWG). “It would be very nice if we could get away from the binary world of ‘It’s a telecommunications service,’ to ‘No, it’s an information service,'” he said, suggesting few regulatory restrictions may be recommended when the IPWG sends an order draft to commissioners in April or May: “We're not looking for things to regulate.” Carlisle said the FCC will move forward on clarification of interstate/intrastate and certain IT/telecom distinctions by spring, independent of the Brand X case, which won’t be decided until June -- though he said a slight delay on the final order could emerge from the court decision. Carlisle said USF and E-911 will be the big issues facing a “very tired” FCC which has dealt with 8 years of ironing out the 1996 Telecom Act; he suggested the FCC might be unwilling to make E-911 capability mandatory but said he understood the concerns of parents whose children “might have to call 911” on what appears to them to be a standard telephone.
“There is a psychological barrier that has to be crossed” in regulating IP technologies like VoIP when they involve voice, FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Jeffrey Carlisle told VoIP-industry lawyers and govt. staffers. This barrier is making the states nervous as the FCC moves to regulate -- or deregulate -- in 2005, said Carlisle, who’s also chmn. of the FCC’s Internet Policy Working Group (IPWG). “It would be very nice if we could get away from the binary world of ‘It’s a telecommunications service,’ to ‘No, it’s an information service,'” he said, suggesting few regulatory restrictions may be recommended when the IPWG sends an order draft to commissioners in April or May: “We're not looking for things to regulate.” Carlisle said the FCC will move forward on clarification of interstate/intrastate and certain IT/telecom distinctions by spring, independent of the Brand X case, which won’t be decided until June -- though he said a slight delay on the final order could emerge from the court decision. Carlisle said USF and E-911 will be the big issues facing a “very tired” FCC which has dealt with 8 years of ironing out the 1996 Telecom Act; he suggested the FCC might be unwilling to make E-911 capability mandatory but said he understood the concerns of parents whose children “might have to call 911” on what appears to them to be a standard telephone.
Divisions appear to growing rather than narrowing between the various sides, including small and large ILECs, wireless carriers and the states, as the FCC readies a proposed rulemaking on intercarrier compensation (ICC) reform for its Feb. 10 meeting. Sources told us that as of Fri. the commissioners were just starting to consider the rulemaking and accompanying orders to address associated wireless issues.
Chmn. Powell announced Fri. he will leave the FCC in March. With key issues pending for all communications sectors, sources agreed the next chmn. is likely to maintain Powell’s policies in the broadest sense, including an emphasis on competition and on promoting new technologies.
CTIA Pres. Steve Largent predicted an active year on Capitol Hill and at the FCC for wireless carriers in 2005. Largent said Tues. that after the battles that ended 2004, including passage of the spectrum transition bill (HR 5419), he sent a warning note to CTIA’s 90 staffers.
Telecom Act revision should be legislation of few words and fewer regulations, BellSouth Chmn. Duane Ackerman told an American Enterprise Institute/Brookings Institution forum Tues. If Congress concludes competition between multiple facilities-based networks works better than traditional regulation -- which Ackerman believes it will -- telecom reform “could be dealt with in a very short bill in a matter of months, not years. This is not complicated.” Ackerman emphasized that telecom reform must be simple, to avoid lengthy litigation like that over the Telecom Act of 1996.
ORLANDO - The plan recently submitted to the FCC by the Intercarrier Compensation Forum (ICF) was criticized by some at the Comptel/ASCENT conference here for not addressing VoIP. “The plan should address all the types of traffic,” said KMC Telecom Vp & Senior Counsel- Regulatory Affairs Marva Johnson: “I believe we need to move towards a SIP-based interconnection and the plan should account for it… Any plan that doesn’t incorporate VoIP traffic won’t be sustainable in the future… Not to incorporate that is a severe flaw.”
The Universal Service Administrative Co.’s (USAC’s) outside board members are trying to get a legislative fix to solve an accounting problem (CD Oct 6 p1) that caused the $6.5 billion universal service program to lose money and jeopardized not only to the E-rate program but also high-cost rural telephony support. Although USAC can’t lobby Congress, its board has been meeting with state regulators, telecom industry associations, education groups and others to seek help in gaining legislation during the lame-duck session of Congress beginning Nov. 15. “The USAC board is reaching out to constituents, talking to people about a solution, trying to do as much as we can,” said USAC Chmn. Frank Gumper, a Verizon consultant: “We've got to do something to get the situation under control, to get the program back to normal.”
The Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) officially kicked off Mon., as its leaders said “promoting VoIP services” and “educating people” were top goals of the new group. Unlike other VoIP organizations, such as the VON Coalition, the IIA will focus primarily on regulatory and economic rather than social policy VoIP issues, its leaders said.
VoIP providers are forming the Global IP Alliance to demonstrate to state, national and international regulators that the industry is capable of self-governance. The alliance, expected to be formally announced in the next several weeks, will be led by Pulver.com and consist of ILECs, CLECs, IXCs and pure VoIP providers from around the world. “We want to make sure we represent all points of view globally,” said Pulver.com Gen. Counsel Jonathan Askin, who will be exec. dir. of the alliance. He said the group has attracted “a lot of” U.S. VoIP providers and “a couple of” European ones, but he said “we need to get more Asian” companies. The initial members will include SBC, Global Crossing, Skype, KMC, Volo and Pulver.com.