VON: Conference finds signs of life on planet IP

BOSTON—Jeff Pulver, CEO of pulver.com and host of this fall’s Voice on the Net conference here, opened the show yesterday with the explication of a new scientific discipline: bio-telecommunications. In identifying the difference between heteromorphic and homomorphic transformation—linking VoIP to the former—Pulver likened the IP communications industry to an emerging butterfly that has taken on a completely different form and therefore should not be treated like the traditional telecom world it leaves behind.

He declared IP communications the official nomenclature for the often-mislabeled industry, urging attendees to stop using the term Internet telephony because focusing on the word telephony is becoming a problem with regulators.

“We need to build communications companies not telephone companies,” Pulver said.

Never at a loss for a metaphor, he said that after 21 VON conferences, conditions in the industry now resemble a season’s second winter storm where the ground is solid and better for accumulation. Like the snow, he said, “VoIP is sticking.”

Seemingly at odds with a show of hands indicating an unusually large contingent of service provider attendees for a VON conference, Pulver said, “Moore’s Law is driving innovation, not the telecom industry.”

However, he added, “Some say the PSTN is going away, I don’t want to be that radical.”

Another show of hands indicating the number of first time attendees drew audible gasps from the crowd who seemed surprised to discover that over half were new to VON. Citing the growing volumes of VoIP minutes around the world, Pulver encouraged them to stay the course. “Follow your gut, follow your instincts—the money will follow,” he said.

Despite being one of the IP communications industry’s loudest trumpets, Pulver now says, “The industry suffers from too much hype.” It has attracted regulatory scrutiny disproportionate with its market penetration.

It was either this topic or the confluence of the end of the day’s sessions with a show floor that hadn’t yet opened that drew a standing room only crowd (50% larger than Spring VON) to hear Vonage CEO Jeffrey Citron close the day.

Citron, whose company has so far bore the brunt of recent regulatory scrutiny, concurred that it was disproportionate. “No technology ever deployed has come under regulation this fast,” he said.

Citron argued that if the wireless industry had been regulated when it only had 50,000 phones sold, similar to the way regulators want to control his company, “There would not be a wireless industry today.”

He said VoIP should be afforded the same maturation period as wireless so the technical difficulties of meeting social obligations such as emergency services and paying universal service can be worked out.

He also called on the FCC to declare a moratorium on the potential patchwork of regulation coming from the states, a sentiment shared by many, including Qwest Communications Vice President of Product Strategy Joseph Glynn. “We want the FCC to make a decision, not a patchwork of 50 states with 50 different ways of doing things,” Glynn said.

FCC Chief of Policy Development Robert Pepper agreed. He said much of the political anxiety surrounding VoIP has to do with elected [state] officials. “If members of the FCC were elected it would be even more difficult to do what’s right, to make the hard decisions,” Pepper said.

Pepper said that the FCC needs to clarify the rules that govern IP communications and said, “There is a need for a national policy.”

Despite being a show and an industry not driven by service providers, Sprint, Verizon Communications and Level 3—now a service provider—all presented on opening day. “This is the place to be if you want to see what’s coming down the pike,” said David Young, director of Internet and technology policy at Verizon.