News

One rule for the telcos; another for the VoIP rebels

One of the longest-running scandals of the American telco business, has been the way the US Government passed laws requiring mobile emergency calls to contain location information - and somehow, the telcos managed not to implement the E911 directive. Nobody enforced that (see map, left). Will the same lax standards apply to the Voice over IP brigade?

VoN Magazine says that some VoIP companies are counting on it. The law requiring VoIP to implement E911 or stop selling to new customers comes into force this week; at the same time it seems the Senate is trying to get a new bill through which postpones the application of the rule to Internet based comms.

The new law, S 1063, just got through the Senate committee stage. On the face of it, it's bad news for Internet Voice: it requires VoIP companies to conform. The good news, however, is that it extends the deadline four years into the future, according to a report on National Journals Insider Update (unavailable at press time due to Web difficulties*).

"Some VoIP service providers say they will continue to market their offerings to prospective customers in areas that are not outfitted to provide enhanced 911 capabilities, despite the passing of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deadline that requires E911 for all service areas. Companies ignoring the FCC requirements risk heavy fines," reported Doug Mohney at Von Magazine.

Authorities are under strong pressure to enforce the ruling. Not only are emergency service personnel - APCO, the Association of Public-safety Communication Officials - lobbying hard to have all E911 regulations turned from paper into real laws, but also the FCC is becoming impatient at the long delay in getting the existing law implemented.

But it seems that enforcing the FCC requirements would cause more than a little trouble.

First off, the implementation of E911 for VoIP companies relies on cooperation from their fixed line competitors. That makes enforcement tricky.

Next, large areas of America are still not equipped with E911 coverage for any incumbent telcos, which would create an obvious and public impression of partisan approaches.

Mohney wrote: "A few research firms believe the FCC will not enforce strict compliance with the order so long as VoIP providers demonstrate forward progress in ultimately meeting the E911 service requirements. And the FCC may intentionally take its time in getting around to handing out fines because of Congressional interest in the matter."

He added: "Bi-partisan groups of Senators and Representatives have expressed their concerns in a rush to implement E911 due to the lack of staff support and potential for "competitive third-parties" (ILECs or incumbent local exchange carriers) to intentionally hinder the implementation of E911."

But there's also a problem of making it work technically. Last week, the International Packet Communications Consortium (IPCC), the VoIP lobby group, announced a technical report pointing out the problems involved: "It is well understood that VoIP is a nomadic service," said IPCC chairman Michael Khalilian. "As such, there is no location information associated with a call event. While the building blocks of location-identifying technology exist, this is still a topic widely open to innovation and implementation."

The report advocates "a realistic timeframe for a complete solution."

In Canada, Vonage is going ahead with the full roll-out of its flat-rate, full-featured VoIP service to include eight new communities in British Columbia beyond Vancouver and Victoria where the Vonage service is currently available.

Residents of these eight communities previously been forced to use an "out of area" SIP number, which creates increased revenue for local telcos whose users dial into Vonage, and increased termination charges for Vonage itself. That's all changed: customers can now keep their current phone number or pick a local phone number.

* The missing NJ Insider Update report is cached

The IPCC press release in Acrobat (pdf) format

Von Magazine comment - short and sweet

APCO puts pressure on the FCC

More on the S.1063 proposals

Vonage expands in CanadaFurther reading at E911, and Jeff Pulver