Telecommunications

The deregulation of the telecommunications industry has spawned incredible investment and technological advancement, and has resulted in unprecedented decreases in prices and rates for the vast majority of Americans. Now, advances such as the development of Voice Over Internet Protocol –making phone calls through a personal computer– pose new opportunities and challenges. VOIP is poised to take the telecommunications world by storm, and as regulators, we must decide how much, if any, of this new technology to regulate. For instance, should VOIP providers be required to provide the same Enhanced 911 service that landline operators must provide? And should VOIP providers be required to contribute to the Universal Services Fund, which helps pay for the build-out of telecommunications to rural and underserved areas? These and other questions must be answered, which is why I recently opened a docket on VOIP and asked my fellow Commissioners to consider commenting to the Federal Communications Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the issue of VOIP.