By Ron Thaniel
November 1, 2004

In a letter to Federal Communication Commission Chairman Michael Powell and Commissioners Abernathy, Copps, Martin, and Adelstein, The United States Conference of Mayors, joined by the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors requested that the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) refrain from acting on Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) and Internet-Protocol Enabled Services (IP-Enabled) in a piecemeal fashion.

The letter was prepared by the law firm of Miller and Van Eaton, retained by the Conference. The firm is currently completing a host of efforts, including, to conduct a pre-Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) ex parte effort at the FCC; prepare and file Comments and Reply Comments at the FCC; and conduct a post-filing ex parte campaign at the FCC, the Conference argued that classifying IP services as purely "inter" or "intra" — state could well prejudice the Commission's ability to preserve and protect the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA); universal service; E-911; consumer protection; compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and a multitude of issues outlined in the Comments filed with the FCC.

A piecemeal consideration of VoIP issues will limit the Commission's ability to develop a rational and holistic approach to VoIP.

The FCC decided on February 12, 2004, that some VoIP providers do not offer the same sort of service as conventional telephone companies and as a result don't need to be regulated in the same way that phone companies are regulated.

Federal, state and local governments stand to lose billions of dollars in revenue from regulatory fees if calls moved onto the Internet are no longer subject to the taxing authority charges.

What is VoIP?

VoIP is technology that allows telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. VoIP converts the voice signal from your telephone into a digital signal that travels over the internet then converts it back at the other end so you can speak to anyone with a regular phone number.