Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Former FCC chairman Hundt blasts agency's 'suspicious' VoIP actions

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 13:06:58 -0500

Former FCC chairman Hundt blasts agency's 'suspicious' VoIP actions
By Jim Rendon, SearchNetworking.com News Writer
11 Nov 2003

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Former Federal
Communications Commission chairman Reed
Hundt took his former agency to task today for
what he feels will be its unnecessarily
heavy-handed regulatory stance toward voice
over Internet Protocol.

Speaking at the Pulver.com Wireless Internet Summit, Hundt said that
it is likely that the FCC will choose to regulate VoIP providers, which
would stifle innovation, boost costs and protect traditional phone
companies from the challenge that low-cost or free Internet calling
service could bring.

Citing a letter from current FCC chairman Michael Powell to Sen.
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that is posted on the FCC Web site, Hundt
said it was apparent that the FCC had already decided to regulate
VoIP.

Earlier this week, the FCC announced that it would hold a hearing to investigate
the possibility of establishing VoIP regulations.
The agency has waived the usual public comment period, which is often the first
step before making such a ruling, Hundt said.  Though the hearing is scheduled
for Dec. 1, Powell wrote that the agency planned to issue a Notice of Public
Rule Making (NPRM) "shortly after the hearing," in an effort to gather comments
from the public.
Hundt said that language indicates that the agency had already made up its mind
about what rules it plans to issue, and that the December hearing would be
little more than a formality.
"I ran this agency," Hundt said. "I know you should be suspicious."

Hundt pointed out three issues raised in chairman Powell's letter, which he said
pointed to erroneous arguments for the regulations of VoIP.

The first was concern about emergency services and Enhanced 911 (E911), FCC
rules seeking to improve the effectiveness and reliability of wireless 911
service. While VoIP systems have had some problems adhering to E911 regulations,
Hundt thought that it was odd that this was an issue of high concern to the FCC,
since the wireless industry successfully lobbied to delay the implementation of
most E911 requirements.

"If this is not an important issue for cell phones, why is it at the top of the
list for VoIP?" Hundt asked.
The letter also cited universal service as an issue necessitating VoIP
regulation, an issue that Hundt quipped had never been a concern for the agency
when it was regulating broadband services. Unregulated VoIP, according to the
letter, could also pose homeland security concerns.

Hundt said that the vast success of narrow-band Internet in the U.S. was largely
due to the FCC's decision, made during his tenure as chairman, not to regulate
the technology or to allow phone companies to charge Internet service providers
for use by the minute.

The large telecommunications companies are concerned about the growth of VoIP
because it has the ability to allow users to make calls for free on the
Internet, undermining their fundamental business model. Hundt, however, said
that there were opportunities for those companies to expand broadband access and
generate revenue that way.
Regulating VoIP now would suppress innovation before the technology really gets
off the ground, Hundt said. And if the U.S.  does not innovate, companies in
other countries will, he said.

Hundt also said that local phone service rates should be deregulated and taken
out of the hands of the states, allowing for increased competition and more
opportunities for carriers.

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid7_gci936461,00.html

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