FCC Extend Telco Rules Further to Apply to VoIP
Written by martyndavies on May 15, 2009 - 10:10 AM
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday announced rule changes to VoIP providers, putting a new duty on them to inform consumers "in a reasonable amount of time" if the service they receive will be discontinued, impaired or reduced.
Regulations already apply to fixed-line providers (section 2.14 of the Communications Act) that will now also be applied to VoIP providers that provide alternatives to the fixed-line service. The regulations protect consumers from "abrubt loss of service without notice" by putting a duty on the carrier to provide advance warning to consumers, and to ask for the authority of the FCC in writing to make changes.
Adelstein's comments referred to the failure of VoIP provider SunRocket in 2007.
The FCC already applied rule changes to VoIP providers to align them with fixed-line providers to cover 911, number portability, disability access and privacy concerns, so this can be seen simply as another alignment.
However, the phrase "in a reasonable amount of time" is obviously quite ambiguous. Also, in practice failing companies do not generally choose to advertise that they are in trouble, since the resulting panic often seals their doom; consider the extreme case of failing banks, where consumers literally queue up to try to retrieve their assets before failure.
Striking the balance between "reasonable amounts of time" and the desperate attempt to generate cash and trade out of a crisis will be a dynamic that we will surely see in the future.
Link: FCC Meetings
Regulations already apply to fixed-line providers (section 2.14 of the Communications Act) that will now also be applied to VoIP providers that provide alternatives to the fixed-line service. The regulations protect consumers from "abrubt loss of service without notice" by putting a duty on the carrier to provide advance warning to consumers, and to ask for the authority of the FCC in writing to make changes.
| FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein : |
| Today's action is not merely about consumer convenience though, it's a serious public safety matter. If a subscriber doesn't receive sufficient warning that their interconnected VoIP provider will cut-off service, that consumer could be left without telephone and of course 911 service. The commission should have given consumers these protections years ago, as we've seen interconnected VoIP service providers go out of business and strand consumers. |
Adelstein's comments referred to the failure of VoIP provider SunRocket in 2007.
The FCC already applied rule changes to VoIP providers to align them with fixed-line providers to cover 911, number portability, disability access and privacy concerns, so this can be seen simply as another alignment.
However, the phrase "in a reasonable amount of time" is obviously quite ambiguous. Also, in practice failing companies do not generally choose to advertise that they are in trouble, since the resulting panic often seals their doom; consider the extreme case of failing banks, where consumers literally queue up to try to retrieve their assets before failure.
Striking the balance between "reasonable amounts of time" and the desperate attempt to generate cash and trade out of a crisis will be a dynamic that we will surely see in the future.
Link: FCC Meetings
Reply from Nik on May 20, 2009 - 04:36 PM
| Forum Rules and Guidelines | About VoIP User | Privacy Policy |
All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. Comments and posts are property of the poster, all the rest (c) 2003-2008 VoIP User Limited. VoIP User Limited is incorporated in England and Wales under Company Number 6694577. No part of this site may be reproduced without our prior consent. |
