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VoIP Receives Warm Reception From UK Regulators
"In stark contrast to the U.S., where VoIP providers may be stifled by wiretap costs, the UK telecoms regulators seem to be welcoming the technology. The BBC is reporting that a block of phone numbers have been assigned to VoIP users -- and that Ofcom, the regulators, have said 'Our first task as regulator is to keep out of the way.'
It's interesting to note that when CCTV cameras in public places in the UK were mentioned on /. the other day, there was an immediate outcry from US people about "Invasion of privacy" and "Thank God the authorities here can't spy on me when I'm outside!"
And then when VoIP gets mentioned, it has to be pointed out that it's being stalled in the US by the authorities complaining that it'll make it harder to spy on people who are in their own homes.
Six of one and half a dozen of the other. . ?
So.. it has come to this
I think you're confused, because this is a story about VOIP in the United Kingdom, not the US. There is no "Congress". There are no convoluted tax laws that only apply to telecoms. VOIP users will pay VAT on their service just like any other telecoms user. Total impact on tax revenues would be expected to increase slightly, not decrease.
The story for us Brits here is not the rather waffly statement that ofcom "seem to be welcoming" VoIP, it's the hard fact that they are having a consultation period on it.
They want to know our views on issues such as mandatory provision of free 999 calls (our emergency number, equivalent to 911 in the USA).
The consultation ends on the 15th November. Here is how to respond. If we want a sensible VoIP policy in Britain, now would be a good time to ask the regulatory body for it.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
You do realise this is a post about the UK don't you. Most countries don't have the long distance / local provider thing you Americans do. I mean there are cheap calling cards, but those are a little different.
Maybe. But the fact is that, for the amount of data sent over their pipes for voice, it's more efficient (read: less bandwidth) to use VoIP. So it costs the link owner less too.
POTS is outdated anyway. Broadband is a utility these days, and if the government want to mandate anything they should impose QoS terms on providers (at the moment there is no contractual obligation for a UK Broadband ISP to actually keep the service going, whereas for POTS a days down time can cost BT money). Once we have QoS on our broadband, then POTS will slower die off.
you waste yer mod points before the time expires then a corker like this appears!!!
i used to tech support the HO, and the common line there, when security clearnace was granted went along the lines of...
"I can read Blunketts email........ and thats more than he can do"
bah!*@%!
I look at the current price advantages of VOIP as merely an insentive that will speed up uptake.
The real advantage, from my perspective, of VOIP is the flexable nature of the network and the new sorts of phone systems that can be set up. Systems that are functionally equivalent to todays office switchboards can be deployed over distributed locations and you can control all of the routing directly using your own server. There's no need to ask the phone company to add another extention. This is, of course, just one example.
Yes, prices will go up, but we will be able to get a more sophisticated service for the same cost.
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Blunkett is a long way out from the vast majority of the Labour party.
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