FCC begins VoIP review

The Federal Communications Commission announced this week it would hold a forum on December 1 to discuss issues concerning voice-over-IP services. Chairman Michael Powell said the commission would launch a notice of proposed rulemaking to determine whether and how VoIP should be regulated. Some state commissions have tried to force VoIP providers to register as a telco before providing local voice service. The VoIP providers maintain that they do not provide a telecommunications service, but rather an application that rides over the Internet, which must remain unregulated per the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The Bell companies generally believe VoIP providers should continue to be unregulated, but meet basic common carrier obligations, such as providing 911 services, contributing to universal service and paying access charges when they connect to the PSTN.