more on FCC Denies AT&T's VoIP Petition - Chairman Powell's statement

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:50:23 -0400
From: PAUL JULIEN <p.julien () worldnet att net>
Subject: more on FCC Denies AT&T's VoIP Petition - Chairman Powell's statement
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>

Dave:
Re:  more on FCC Denies AT&T's VoIP Petition -
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-97A1.doc

I thought Chairman Powell's statement at the end of the decision was a
concise summary of this issue.  It is excerpted below.


Paul Julien


*



Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of

Petition for Declaratory Ruling that AT&T's Phone-to-Phone IP Telephony
Services are Exempt from Access Charges )
)
)
)
WC Docket No. 02-361


ORDER

Adopted:  April 14, 2004  Released: April 21, 2004

By the Commission:  Chairman Powell and Commissioners Abernathy, Copps,
Martin, and  Adelstein issuing separate statements.

[...]


STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN MICHAEL K. POWELL

Re: Petition for Declaratory Ruling That AT&T's Phone-to-Phone IP Telephony
Services Are Exempt From Access Charges, WC Docket No. 02-361, Order

 Today's decision is correctly decided on very narrow grounds.  A
straightforward application of existing law places the long distance
telephone service, as it is factually described by AT&T, squarely in the
category of a telecommunications service.  The carrier has long been
obligated to pay access charges for this service and we unanimously confirm
that it still is required to do so.

 I have stated my solid view that VOIP offers enormous potential for
consumers and should be very lightly regulated.  I remain staunchly
committed to that position.  VOIP is clearly not your father's telephone
service.  It represents a uniquely new form of communication that promises
to offer dramatic advances in the consumer experience.  Consumers can
anticipate greater value, greater personalization, and a wealth of features
that are only possible through the convergence of voice and data on a
broadband network that pushes more intelligence to the edge of the network
and into the hands of end-users.  The promise of such services and the
potential for greater competition combine to justify a minimal and
innovation-friendly regulatory policy.

 In that vein, the objectives of digital migration are achieved by moving to
networks and services that empower individuals.  Therefore, it is important
to be guided by the perspective of consumers that are purchasing service, in
determining how a service should be understood.  The services that are the
subject of this petition merely use IP technology in a manner that does not
offer consumers any variation in experience or capability.  We therefore
should approach AT&T's request that it not be subject to the obligations of
a telecommunications carrier with skepticism.  The petitioner argues that
its service should be exempt from the access charge regime because it may
use IP in its transport system.  Yet, as the Order notes, customers are in
no discernable way receiving the transforming benefits of an IP-enabled
service.  In fact, the consumer receives the same plain old telephone
service.  To allow a carrier to avoid regulatory obligations simply by
dropping a little IP in the network would merely sanction regulatory
arbitrage and would collapse the universal service system virtually
overnight.

 Carriers understandably are anxious to lower their significant access costs
as long distance revenue declines.  The Commission has recognized that our
intercarrier compensation system is under severe stress in light of
technological change.  We have committed ourselves to reforming the system
and I am aware that carriers themselves are working toward solutions.  The
appropriate way to address these challenges is through intercarrier
compensation reform and we will focus our efforts there.

-------------------------------------
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