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Government Regulation of IP
Telephony
Bruce D. Jacobs
(202) 775-3543
[email protected]
Washington, D.C.
9/14/98
9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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VON Coalition
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Cisco Systems
• Netspeak
Clarent
• Polycom
elemedia/Lucent
• Pulver.com
Dialogic
• TeleDenmark
Intel
• USA Global Link
ITXC
• Vienna Systems
Microsoft
• Vocaltec
Natural
Microsystems Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
9/14/98
9/14/98
L.L.P.
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Overview
• Most of VON is alive and well despite
government regulation
• VON is being driven largely by the
increased efficiency and functionality of
IP networks
• The problem areas involve the use of
VON to arbitrage “bad” regulations
9/14/98
9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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What is VON?
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9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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User equipment
• PC
• Conventional handset
• Hybrid devices
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9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza L.L.P.
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Network configurations
• private networks
• cable networks
• MANs
• PSTN (ILEC or CLEC)
• hybrid
9/14/98
9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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The Future
LEC Switch Gateway
Gateway LEC Switch
IP Network
Phone
Handset
Metropolitan
Area Network
Metropolitan
Area Network
Fax
PC
Router
Router
Hybrid
LAN
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LAN
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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Pricing
• no marginal cost (flat rate)
• per-minute charges
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9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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Key issues for regulators
• International accounting rates for PSTN
traffic
• Universal service support
– explicit
– implicit
• Technical issues
– law enforcement access
– emergency services
9/14/98
9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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Status of government
regulation
• Good news:
– private networks remain unregulated
– value-added data networks remain
unregulated
– most governments are reluctant to slow the
growth of domestic use of the Internet
9/14/98
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Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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Status of government
regulation (cont.)
• Bad news
– Some governments have sought to ban
even PC-based VON
» Pakistan
» India
9/14/98
9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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Status of government
regulation (cont.)
• Mixed news
– Some governments have indicated that
they will treat certain kinds of VON as
simple resale
» Canada
– Others have recognized that action is
premature
» European Commission
» U.S. FCC
9/14/98
9/14/98
Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
12
VON Coalition perspective
• cheaper, for people who can really use
the savings
• facilitates innovation
• brings the Internet to people without
computers
9/14/98
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Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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VON Coalition perspective
(cont.)
• pro-competitive, except to the extent
provided by incumbent LECs that may
have a bottleneck monopoly
• not a near-term threat to traditional
PSTN traffic
9/14/98
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Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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Useful cites
• FCC Report to Congress
– http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Reports/fcc98067.
html
• EC Decision
– http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg04/lawliber/en/voice.htm
• WTO Agreement on Basic Telecoms
– http://www.wto.org/wto/services/tel.htm
• VON White Paper
– http://www.von.org
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Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
L.L.P.
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