FCC takes first step toward VoIP policy

摘要

Washington, D.C.―The FCC last week took the first step toward laying down rules governing VoIP service by approving a proceeding that will solicit comments on how the emerging competitor to traditional voice services should be regulated. In its notice of proposed rulemaking, the FCC will ask for comments on whether VoIP should be regulated as a substitute for the highly regulated traditional telephone service and whether the VoIP service connects to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), among other issues. But the language in the notice, to be published within weeks, suggests that most Internet services should continue to be minimally regulated. The rulemaking proceeding was the "curtain going up on a really new era of communications," FCC Chairman Michael Powell says. "This is perhaps the most important item in communications history."