CRITICAL PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES IMPACTING THE DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY OF VOIP SERVICES

摘要

As with any telecommunications service, the regulatory treatment of Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") services will impact how it is provided, by whom it is provided, the cost of service, and the features and functionality associated with the service. Public policy makers around the world are currently considering the appropriate regulatory treatment of VoIP services. At present, some countries have proactively abstained from applying any regulation to VoIP services while other countries have applied the full panopoly of public voice telephony regulation to VoIP services. This paper considers the history of liberalization efforts and the relevance of these efforts to VoIP and other Internet service applications. There are three issues in particular that potentially could have market-altering effects on the development and delivery of VoIP services. These include (1) emergency services dispatch (2) law enforcement support, and (3) universal service. Consideration of these issues, however, must occur in the broader context of the Internet and not the narrow confines of voice telephony.