Posted on 06/16/2004 12:41:13 PM PDT by solicitor77
Edited on 06/16/2004 12:53:19 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Should Internet phone calls receive special protection from regulations? We ask Sen. John E. Sununu about his proposal to limit state taxes and regulations on VOIP.
Should Internet phone calls receive special protection from regulations? That’s the question that Sen. John E. Sununu (R., N.H.) has posed to telecom policy makers.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
OK... what the heck does VOIP stand for?
I tend to browse through articles, but I scanned this one several times. Did I miss the acronym definition, or am I just clueless?
This happens to be my area of expertise. There must be regulation over wireline TELECOM services for now, to include VOIP. Broadband connections are required to effectively implement VOIP. Broadband connections are not ubiquitous. They are not available in most rural areas and many urban areas. Bell Operating Companies want all broadband services deregulated and VOIP startups want their service unregulated. There are several problems.
First, VOIP is provided over the Internet backbone but how does it reach the end user? End users are connected via the wireline telephone network. If end users pay VOIP providers for local service rather than the local telephone companies, how will the cost for the local network be recovered? Local telephone companies want to be compensated for use of their network but VOIP providers are insisting that this is an information service and that compensation is not required. Regulators must ensure that costs for the distribution network are recovered.
Second and most important, business rates subsidize residential rates and urban rates subsidize rural rates. If business and urban customers are switched to VOIP, those customers without broadband connections will be left with the bill for the voice band network. Rural telephone service will essentially become cost prohibitive. Some will say that wireless can fill the void but wireless service in most rural areas is hit and miss at best.
We are in a transition. One day the market can be fully deregulated but NOT YET. Not until these problems are solved.
Yeah . . . and Broadband Competition (at least wireline) is in the process of being killed so that the RBOCs can continue to OVERCOLLECT on their "investments". The only thing that has made them invest at all is broadband competition and the CLECs are being devastated.
No, my friend. I don't believe you missed the Acronym and I would never say you were clueless. As an investor ( looking for the next BIG thing)I follow that kind of stuff, saw you ask, and thought I would help you out. Thats all.
Good luck,
I disagree. The CLECS have captured 21 percent of the market in our state. The State Utility Regulatory Commissions have required RBOCs to unbundle their network and make it available at wholesale prices to the CLECS. Now there is a move in Congress and the FCC to preempt the states when it comes to broadband networks, to deregulate broadband. Regulation is the ONLY thing giving CLECS a chance to break into the monopoly long held by the incumbents. RBOCs will not be required to unbundle DSL loops. That is what will devastate the CLECS. They do NOT have the resources at present to rebuild the network and the RBOCs will not be required to make their loops available to the CLECs.
I said it with the passage of the TELECOM ACT of 96 and I'll say it again, Congress messed up. The only way to make this work is for there to be a wholesaler of the network from which all retailers build their services. All incumbent local telephone companies should have been required to structurally separate the retail from the wholesale business thus requiring all retailers to compete on an even playing field. As it stands now, RBOCs are BOTH wholesalers (providers of the network) and retailers (providers of the services to customers). That is tantamount to having the fox in the hen house.
I'm sorry, my response was aimed as much at the original poster as you. You might be too polite for this forum :), and I might be clueless.
Thanks for your help. Voice over Internet protocal (VOIP).... plant in memory...
"First, VOIP is provided over the Internet backbone but how does it reach the end user? End users are connected via the wireline telephone network. If end users pay VOIP providers for local service rather than the local telephone companies, how will the cost for the local network be recovered? Local telephone companies want to be compensated for use of their network but VOIP providers are insisting that this is an information service and that compensation is not required. Regulators must ensure that costs for the distribution network are recovered."
The VOIP provider has a gateway to the local phone network... don't they pay there?
The definition is in the article...for some reason, the system administrator edited my posting. Stands for voice over internet protocol, voip.
VOIP is Cable companies way to make more money for themselves while avoiding paying for the usage!
That is one very small minded way of looking at it.
I think we agree more than we disagree. I am a little sceptical of your 21 percent of the market figure. I don't know of any state where CLECs have captured that much of the market. I would have to see your data on that one.
The issue isn't that RBOCs won't be required to provide loops as much as what the RBOCs can charge. What USTA II has done is throw out the "just and reasonable" rates that were established by State Commissions for UNEs. What is so galling is that the DC Circuit has totally ignored their first order. The RBOCs just got 271 access and now that they've gotten what they wanted the courts are kicking competitors to the curb.
I agree totally with your structural separation argument. Competing companies like mine have been asking for this for a long time now. Not only would this address many of the infrastructure problems that you see, but would also go a long way toward ensuring parity in ordering and repair as well as the systems (OSSs) that support those functions.
I guess you work for a cable company so your have a large mind.
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