Vote On Internet Phone

Senate Commerce Committee To Vote On Internet Phone Bill

July 16, 2004

By Josh Long

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation chaired by Arizona Republican John McCain on Tuesday will vote on a bill that would prohibit states from imposing taxes and fees on Internet-based phone service and place the technology under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

Committee members could reject the bill or make amendments to the Voip Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004, a bill New Hampshire Republican John Sununu introduced in April. The Senate Commerce Committee is comprised of 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats, according to Sununu communications director Barbara Riley.

Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), vice chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, introduced a similar bill in the House of Representatives. Both bills prevent states from enacting laws or regulations governing phone calls over the Internet.

The FCC is reviewing how to regulate Internet phone service. The technology is being rapidly embraced by all sizes of telecommunications firms, from modest startups to the largest U.S. telephone companies like Verizon Communications Inc.

Wednesday was the deadline for submitting reply comments to the FCC in its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) concerning how the commission should regulate Internet phone technology. Glenn Richards, a telecommunications attorney who is a partner with the law firm of Shaw Pittman LLP, says it is unclear when the FCC will release rules.

“It would be ambitious to think something will be done by the end of the year,” he says.

Richards says the presidential election could affect the timing: A Kerry administration likely would mean Powell, a Republican, would step down as chairman and be replaced by a Democrat. Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein are the two Democrats on the commission.

Powell has emphasized the need to apply light regulation to Internet phone technology to foster investment, but requests to safeguard telephone subsidies, permit law enforcement to wiretap calls, and support emergency 911 services are among the issues that call into question whether the agency can keep the regulations to a minimum.

An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment on when the commission would release rules governing Internet phone service. Senior aides to Powell could not be reached for comment.

The FCC also is reviewing separate petitions filed by some companies that are more narrow in scope than the NPRM. For example, Vonage Holdings Corp., a broadband phone company, last year asked the commission to overturn a Minnesota Public Utilities Commission order and affirm its Internet telephony service is an interstate service under federal jurisdiction and not subject to telecommunications regulations.

This story was also included in:

Xchange, 7/16/04