House to Tackle Internet Calls
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers in the House of Representatives will try this week to figure out how, if at all, to regulate the growing voice-over-IP services that let users bypass the traditional phone system. Wednesday's hearing of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet comes only three weeks after the Senate Commerce Committee wrestled with a similar conundrum: how to avoid smothering VOIP in red tape while preserving safeguards to protect public safety, help law enforcement and subsidize telecom services in rural areas. Two companion bills in the House and Senate, both named
The VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004, intend to address the issue by protecting VOIP services from overzealous regulation. The House version, HR 4129, is sponsored by Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Mississippi). The Senate bill, S. 2281, is sponsored by Sen. John Sununu (R-New Hampshire). Despite past suspicion of VOIP services, even the United States Telecom Association, or USTA, now favors mostly unregulated VOIP.
Why? Because incumbent phone companies are getting into the VOIP business themselves, and don't want to live under the kind of rules they face in the heavily regulated traditional phone business. With VOIP services, customers use the infrastructure of the Internet to place voice telephone calls. The conversation is digitized, converted to data packets, and transmitted back and forth through the Net.
Unlike regular phone service, most VOIP services charge a flat monthly fee no matter how long their customers talk or how far away they place phone calls. While the service is great for customers, the phone companies that carry much of the traffic fear losing business. Vonage is a "connected" VOIP service that allows Internet-to-traditional phone calls, and has been fighting the specter of regulation since its launch in 2001. The company reports that incumbent telcos have softened their positions only in the past six months. more>>>