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Vonage Phone Calls Destined To Be Sent As Data Packets |
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Phone Calls Destined To Be Sent As Data Packets
March 7, 2005
By John Woolfolk
The day is not far off when everyone's phone calls will be delivered much like their e-mail -- as bits of data.
The phone network that has been the backbone of telecommunications for much of the past century is giving way to the technology that drives the Internet.
``We're in the beginning of a 10-year transformation in which the traditional phone network is going to give way to VoIP,'' said telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan. ``The telecommunications network is being reinvented.''
Most people still don't know or understand what Voice over Internet Protocol is. But that is changing as the high-speed Internet connections that deliver VoIP are becoming more common. Big-name companies like Comcast and AT&T have been pitching the service.
``During the past couple of years we've seen VoIP start to happen,'' said Jeff Pulver, a pioneer in Internet communications technology who publishes VON, an industry magazine that is sponsoring a VoIP conference Monday through Thursday in San Jose. He predicts VoIP customers will double to more than 2 million by the end of this year.
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 22:49:37 CST
(1017 reads)
Read More: Vonage Phone Calls Destined To Be Sent As Data Packets
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FCC Issues Fines For Blocking Of Vonage VoIP |
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FCC Issues Fines For Blocking Of VoIP
March 4, 2005
By David Worthington
FCC Chairman Michael Powell has slapped Madison River Communications with a $15,000 fine for blocking Voice-over-IP (VoIP) Internet phone calls. The FCC's enforcement action comes less than one month after VoIP provider Vonage filed a complaint asking the US government to investigate allegations that competitors are deliberately blocking the use of its services.
Following the agency's disclosure of the settlement, Powell said, "The industry must adhere to certain consumer protection norms if the Internet is to remain an open platform for innovation."
In the complaint, unnamed competitors were accused of blocking Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) addresses that Vonage relies on to operate its services.
IP telephony, better known as VoIP, has economized both local and long distance calling with cut-rate prices as other telephone companies scramble to migrate from their Public Switched Telephone Networks. While smaller Internet firms like Vonage and were first-to-market, major companies such as AT&T, SBC and Comcast have recently launched VoIP offerings.
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 22:47:16 CST
(669 reads)
Read More: FCC Issues Fines For Blocking Of Vonage VoIP
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VoIP Firms Urge More FCC Action |
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It's Degrading: VoIP Firms Urge More FCC Action
March 4, 2005
By Roy Mark
Internet telephony firms praised Thursday's action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fine a small telecom for blocking Voice over Internet Protocol traffic, but said problems of keeping broadband networks open to all IP applications remain.
Over the last six months, both consumer VoIP provider Vonage and wholesaler Nuvio complained to the FCC about both telecom and cable broadband providers either blocking or degrading VoIP calls. In some cases, the providers offer their own VoIP service and in Vonage's and Nuvio's opinion are discriminating against unaffiliated VoIP companies.
Thursday, Madison River Communications of Mebane, N.C., which owns and operates four rural telephone companies in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Illinois, admitted no guilt in port blocking complaints brought by Vonage, but agreed to a $15, 000 fine and promised to drop the practice.
Chris Murray, Vonage's director of government affairs, said in Madison River's case, one of the company's subsidiaries was blocking VoIP calls to and from a customer who chose to get VoIP service instead of leasing a second, hard-wired telephone line.
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 22:44:55 CST
(1636 reads)
Read More: VoIP Firms Urge More FCC Action
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FCC Fines Telecom That Blocked Vonage VoIP Calls |
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FCC Fines Telecom That Blocked Vonage VoIP Calls
March 4, 2005
By Keith Regan
The FCC said it had negotiated a settlement with Madison River Communication, under which the firm will pay a $15,000 fine and agree to avoid any actions that could hamper customers' ability to use VoIP services. Analysts said the action sends a strong message that the FCC will act to enforce and uphold its light-regulatory-touch approach to VoIP.
Moving quickly to protect the rights of emerging voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) providers, the Federal Communications Commission has fined a North Carolina-based telecommunications carrier for refusing to accept traffic from Vonage.
The action from the FCC came less than a month after Vonage first filed a complaint with the agency. At the time, Vonage said an unnamed local carrier had configured its servers to deny access to block ports that are used to carry VoIP traffic.
VoIP converts voice to data traffic that is sent through broadband at a sharp discount to traditional local and long-distance providers.
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 22:42:16 CST
(592 reads)
Read More: FCC Fines Telecom That Blocked Vonage VoIP Calls
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FCC Defends Vonage VoIP Service |
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FCC Defends Voice-Over-Internet Service
March 4, 2005
By Staff
U.S. regulators have forced a North Carolina phone company to stop blocking customers from using voice-over-Internet calling services.
The Federal Communications Commission said Madison River Communications Corp. has agreed to pay $15,000 and to stop blocking the ability of consumers to use voice-over-Internet calling services instead of regular phone lines, the Washington Post said Friday.
Thursday's announcement signals a victory for an emerging technology that threatens the market share of traditional phone companies.
Known as VoIP, for voice over Internet protocol, such communication increasingly is being used by businesses and consumers instead of traditional phone service. Although VoIP requires high-speed Internet access, providers offer unlimited local, long-distance, and even some international calling for as little as $20 a month.
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 22:40:24 CST
(633 reads)
Read More: FCC Defends Vonage VoIP Service
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Phone Company Settles In Blocking Of Vonage VoIP Calls |
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Phone Company Settles In Blocking Of Internet Calls
March 4, 2005
By Jonathan Krim
The Federal Communications Commission announced yesterday that a North Carolina-based telephone company agreed to pay $15,000 and to stop blocking the ability of consumers to use voice-over-Internet calling services instead of regular phone lines.
In the first action of its kind, the FCC settled with Madison River Communications Corp., which operates several rural phone companies throughout the Southeast and Midwest.
Calling based on voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) increasingly is being used by businesses and consumers as a substitute for traditional phone service. Although VoIP requires high-speed Internet access, its major providers offer unlimited local, long-distance, and even some international calling for as little as $20 a month.
Vonage Holdings Corp., one of the nation's leading Internet phone companies, had complained that as many as 200 customers had their service blocked by a Madison River subsidiary that provided its phone customers with Internet access.
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 02:30:00 CST
(1121 reads)
Read More: Phone Company Settles In Blocking Of Vonage VoIP Calls
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Vonage VoIP Blockers Revealed |
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Source Of Vonage Blockage Revealed
March 4, 2005
By Pete Rojas
Damn, it turns out that there was a local telephone company that was blocking Vonage. The FCC has just fined North Carolina-based Madison River Communications, the nation’s “17th largest phone company”, 15 grand for blocking ports used for making Voice over IP phone calls. By blocking those ports Madison River was effectively able to stop its DSL subscribers from using Vonage’s phone service, something Vonage obviously wasn’t too psyched about, and we’re stoked that the FCC came down on the right side on this one (to be honest VoIP seems to be just about the only thing the FCC is progressive about these days, though maybe that’s only because it’d be hard to start censoring phone calls).
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 02:15:00 CST
(678 reads)
Read More: Vonage VoIP Blockers Revealed
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Madison River Communications To Pay Fine For Vonage Blocking |
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Wireline
March 4, 2005
By Staff
The FCC Enforcement Bureau entered a consent decree with Madison River Communications to end an investigation into complaints that the company blocked ports used for VoIP applications such as those offered by Vonage. Madison River agreed to pay $15,000 and not block ports "or otherwise prevent customers from using VoIP applications." A representative of Vonage, which last month complained of port blocking but didn't name specific companies, said the ruling was a victory (CD Feb 16 p9). "We saw a problem and we acted swiftly to ensure that Internet voice service remains a viable option for consumers," said FCC Chmn. Powell: "The industry must adhere to certain consumer protection norms if the Internet is to remain an open platform for innovation."
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 02:00:00 CST
(4310 reads)
Read More: Madison River Communications To Pay Fine For Vonage Blocking
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Phone Phirm Blocked Vonage VoIP Calls |
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Phone Phirm Blocked Internet Calls
Customer Freedom, We Have Heard Of It
March 4, 2005
By Nick Farrell
THE FCC has said that a North Carolina-based telephone company has agreed to pay a $15,000 fine and to stop blocking the ability of consumers to use voice-over-IP calling services.
We think it had little choice and resembled a fine.
Madison River Communications, which operates several rural phone companies throughout the Southeast and Midwest, had blocked more than 200 customers from using a Voice-over-IP service run by Vonage Holdings.
In some cases this meant that customers who had disconnected their traditional phone lines and were relying solely on Vonage, could make emergency calls.
When hacks from the Washington Post asked Madison River why it would do such a thing, its spinsters said it could not talk to them because the company was filing for an IPO of stock. Handy.
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 01:20:31 CST
(659 reads)
Read More: Phone Phirm Blocked Vonage VoIP Calls
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Vonage Blocking - Telephone Company Has Agreed To Pay A $15,000 Fine |
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North Carolina Telephone Company Has Agreed To Pay A $15,000 Fine
March 4, 2005
By Staff
North Carolina telephone company has agreed to pay a $15,000 fine and to stop blocking the ability of users to use voice-over-IP calling services (this service gives an opportunity to call from Internet, using their Internet Service Provider).
Madison River Communications, which operates several rural phone companies throughout the Southeast and Midwest, had blocked more than 200 customers from using a Voice-over-IP service run by Vonage Holdings.
In some cases this meant that users who had disconnected their traditional phones and were using only Vonage connection, could make emergency calls.
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Posted by vonage on Monday, March 07 @ 00:55:42 CST
(1735 reads)
Read More: Vonage Blocking - Telephone Company Has Agreed To Pay A $15,000 Fine
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