Thanks to the group for the discussion on this paper. The folks at NextGenWeb have discussed the report on their blog too: http://tinyurl.com/3w4qlm (full disclosure: I help NextGenWeb with their blogging)
The whole "VoIP as telecommunications or data service" argument come down to two main issues for me:
1) Is the service running over the ILECs/CLECs local network? If yes, the VoIP provider (Vonage, 8x8, etc.) should pay the appropriate fees (USF, access charges, etc.) to the responsible local POTS provider. In other words, PC-to-phone or phone-to-PC is a telecommunications service in the conventional sense of the word.
2) If the service is exclusively PC-to-PC (even if it connects to a VoIP-enabled phone), it should be exempted from regulation since it is exclusively a data service. Since the data never touches the local PSTN, there's no reason that the VoIP provider (and subsequently the consumer) should be accountable for access fees, taxes, etc.
Of course, this doesn't touch on the fact that the telecom carriers are saving a boatload of cash by sending their PSTN traffic over VoIP backbones all the while passing along new fees to their customers... That's a rant for another day.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks to the group for the discussion on this paper. The folks at NextGenWeb have discussed the report on their blog too: http://tinyurl.com/3w4qlm (full disclosure: I help NextGenWeb with their blogging)
The whole "VoIP as telecommunications or data service" argument come down to two main issues for me:
1) Is the service running over the ILECs/CLECs local network? If yes, the VoIP provider (Vonage, 8x8, etc.) should pay the appropriate fees (USF, access charges, etc.) to the responsible local POTS provider. In other words, PC-to-phone or phone-to-PC is a telecommunications service in the conventional sense of the word.
2) If the service is exclusively PC-to-PC (even if it connects to a VoIP-enabled phone), it should be exempted from regulation since it is exclusively a data service. Since the data never touches the local PSTN, there's no reason that the VoIP provider (and subsequently the consumer) should be accountable for access fees, taxes, etc.
Of course, this doesn't touch on the fact that the telecom carriers are saving a boatload of cash by sending their PSTN traffic over VoIP backbones all the while passing along new fees to their customers... That's a rant for another day.