VoIP Is Voice by any Other Name

More and more telephone calls are now transmitted over the Internet. These are called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls. Should telephone calls delivered using VoIP technology be subject to the same rules and consumer protections as traditional telephone calls? State regulatory commissions, legislatures, and the FCC are grappling with this question.

Recently, CWA submitted public comments to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission as part of that commission's investigation into VoIP regulatory treatment. "The Commission should regulate VoIP as a telecommunications service, subject to the same rules and consumer protections that apply to traditional telephone service," CWA wrote.

Regulate the service, we said, not how it is delivered. Customers who make calls using VoIP technology should have the same protections as customers that make voice calls using traditional telephone technology. CWA concurred with the recent conclusion of the Maine and Vermont regulatory commissions that VoIP is a telecommunications service, and should be regulated as such.

The FCC has not yet ruled on the proper regulatory treatment of what is called fixed VoIP service, leaving the matter to state regulators. A fixed VoIP service, such as Comcast's Digital Voice, Verizon's FiOS, or AT&T's U-Verse, allows a customer to make a phone call from a fixed location, such as a home or business. This is different from a nomadic VoIP service, like Vonage, that allows a customer to make a call from any device that has a broadband connection, regardless of the physical location. The FCC has ruled that nomadic VoIP, like Vonage, is an interstate service, subject only to federal regulation. But is has not yet ruled on fixed VoIP.

The FCC, in a number of proceedings, has ruled that all VoIP providers must contribute to universal service, and are subject to rules regarding disability access, customer privacy, E-911, local number portability, discontinuance notifications, and public safety requirements.

The FCC also recently ruled that states can assess universal service contributions from all VoIP providers.

Competition alone will not protect telephone consumers. Telephone service is too important to public health, safety, economic and civic participation to leave to market forces alone. In the current deregulatory mood, consumers must be vigilant to ensure that policymakers continue to protect the public interest.

CWA Public Comments in the Commission Investigation of Voice over Internet Protocol in Wisconsin