Country code 87810 for Voice Over IP. That's progress.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030210/102182_1.html
Thanks to Jeff Pulver:
VoIP is Under Attack [again] in the United States
Back in November, 2002 the IP Communications Industry had issues with the way NANP ( http://www.nanpa.com ), the North American Numbering Plan Administration, was approaching VoIP. While the folks at NANPA are still working on their approach to VoIP, those of us who are living in the United States who care about IP Communications now have a much more immediate problem, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, NARUC ( http://www.naruc.org ) and their 2003 Winter Meetings ( http://www.naruc.org/Meetings/winter/2003/index.htm ) taking place Feb 22-26.
Jeff Pulver posted a draft copy of NARUC's already strong anti-VOIP resolution to: ( http://pulver.com/reports/naruc1b.doc )
If the NARUC resolution gets passed, Jeff Pulver says, it will create unnecessary taxes and crippling administrative burden on the Internet and in fact would mark a real dark day for IP Communications in the United States. Jeff Pulver says, "Together we need to counter lobbyist scare-mongering by explaining to state commissioners that internet connections must not be burdened with crippling administration."
The commissioners are worried that an explosion of internet calls could threaten the Universal Service Fund. The reality is that it will be many years before the volume of calls diverted is enough to affect service funds, giving plenty of time to find a well-thought out response. The move for immediate action is an attempt by some lobbyists to stifle future internet choices hidden in some legitimate concerns.
People can find their State Commissioners email by visiting:
( http://www.naruc.org/resources/state.shtml ). People should use their own words to send email to their respective State Commissioners. I've posted a sample letter to: ( http://pulver.com/reports/narucletter.html ) as a reference. People can freely take from my draft letter and make sure they mention the state they live in to make this effort even more effective.
State commissioners play an important role, but few beyond the professional lobbyists contact them on issues. Even a few emails have the potential to sway them on an issue.
Jeff Pulver says he is hoping that people take the time to reach out to their respective State Commissioners this week and have their voices heard. Please feel free to copy Jeff Pulver (REPORT@PULVER.COM) on emails.
Speak now, or forever hold your peace, Jeff Pulver says. In 2003 the FCC will decide whether or not to regulate Internet Telephony in the United States.
On February 5th Jeff Pulver filed a petition with the FCC on behalf of Free World Dialup ( http://pulver.com/fwd ), asking for a Declaratory Ruling that states that Broadband Internet Telephony, which doesn't touch the public switched telephone network (PSTN), should not be ruled as either "Telecommunications" or as a "Telecommunications Service" as defined by the Telecom Act of 1996. On February 14th the FCC put the pulver.com petition out for public comment. The public has until March 14th to respond.
A copy of the original petition is posted to:
( http://www.pulver.com/reports/FWDPetition.pdf ) [1.5 MB file]
Back in March, 1996 the ACTA Petition was filed which in effect asked
for the internet telephony software companies selling to consumers to be governed by the same regulations as phone companies. While the FCC never ruled on ACTA, the petition started to raise questions about the future regulation of Internet Telephony in the United States and around the world. Some countries were quick to ban internet telephony based on the out of control hype that existed back in the Spring of 1996 while many other countries took a "wait and see" approach.
The pulver.com Petition is in many ways the exact opposite of the ACTA
petition insomuch as what I was asking for is that end-to-end Internet
Telephony over Broadband remain unregulated. After seven years of
waiting, now that VoIP technologies have gone mainstream and now that
consumers are once again using these technologies and now that these
technologies work quite well, I wanted to remove the cloud of regulatory uncertainty when it came to VoIP and broadband Internet Telephony. My hope is that "we" as a community can encourage the FCC for fast action on the FWD petition as a way for the FCC to help encourage investment. Once the regulatory uncertainty is removed, I strongly believe investors will once again look at the VoIP industry as the hot space to invest in and encourage innovation in.
Please take advantage of the Pulver Petition and share your comments
with the FCC. Details on how to reply to the petition are posted to:
( http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-439A1.pdf )
Please reply by March 14th.
10:16:01 PM 
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