Sununu, Pickering offer VoIP bills

Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) and Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) on Friday introduced two generally parallel bills that would make voice-over-IP applications largely deregulated, including no regulation from state commissions.

In both bills, VoIP refers to instances in which a VoIP device is used on at least one end of a call that can be connected to the public switched network. VoIP applications would be declared information services that would be subject to limited FCC regulation and no state regulation. In addition, such applications could not be taxed, although the underlying broadband transmission facilities needed for quality VoIP calls would be subject to the telecommunications laws.

“States do not have an inherent right to tax people’s voice conversations,” Sununu said.

Not surprisingly, the proposal to prevent states from having any regulatory and taxing rights was not popular with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, which represents state commissions.

“The premise of these bills is that the States have their knives out for VOIP—and we fundamentally disagree with that premise,” according to a NARUC press release. “State commissions have worked hard to find the right balance of consumer protection and flexibility to open doors for new technologies and new competitors.”

Both bills would require VoIP providers to be responsible for some social-policy efforts, including contributing to the universal service fund and being subject to an FCC ruling regarding issues such as E911, access by the disabled community, and standards of security and reliability.

In addition, both bills call for VoIP providers to let law-enforcement groups conduct surveillance on calls, although the language in Pickering’s bill calls for something similar to a telecom-service model, while Sununu’s legislation calls for VoIP calls to be accessible only as other information services would.

“It would be a mistake to take the legislative provisions written for copper-based, circuit-switched networks and apply them to this technology,” Sununu said.

Another area where the two bills differ is intercarrier compensation. Under the Sununu proposal, VoIP applications would be exempt from access charges, while Pickering’s bill calls for the FCC to make a ruling within six months of the bill’s passage.

“These bills provide an excellent place for the Congress to join the discussion on VoIP,” said Peter Jacoby, AT&T’s vice president of congressional affairs. “They have presented a deregulatory approach that both acknowledges the need to reform the current subsidy system and allows this nascent service to flourish and bring the benefits of competition and innovation to the telecommunications marketplace.”