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Gambits & Gadgets In The World Of Technology |
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Gambits & Gadgets In The World Of Technology
December 2, 2004
By Staff
Local Lines
As Vonage Holdings Corp. rolls out its service nationwide, the Internet phone company based in suburban New Jersey is trying to sound as local as possible.
On Tuesday, when it launched service in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Vonage Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Citron said in a news release, "Our presence along the Avenue of the Saints corridor gives residents and small business the option to choose a plan that provides a heavenly alternative" to standard phone service. Avenue of the Saints is the moniker for a 600-mile series of connected roads linking St. Louis with St. Paul, Minn., via Cedar Rapids.
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Posted by vonage on Thursday, December 02 @ 23:01:34 EST
(708 reads)
Read More: Gambits & Gadgets In The World Of Technology
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FCC Preempts State Regulation Of VOIP Services |
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FCC Preempts State Regulation Of VOIP Services
December 2, 2004
By Staff
The FCC took another step forward in the ongoing debate over regulation of VOIP services by preempting state regulation of certain aspects of VOIP provider operations.
Specifically, the Commission ruled that Vonage Holdings Corporation’s ("Vonage") DigitalVoice service is not subject to certification, tariffing and E911 requirements that the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ("MPUC") otherwise imposes on intrastate telecommunications carriers. The Commission limited its decision to Vonage’s DigitalVoice service and services similar to DigitalVoice and certain state regulatory obligations. The FCC stated, however, that its decision made it clear that the FCC, not states, has the responsibility and obligation to determine what regulatory requirements apply to IP-based technologies and services.
The FCC adopted the Vonage decision over objections from Commissioners Copps and Adelstein regarding the piecemeal fashion in which the FCC is addressing VOIP issues. The Vonage decision, however, was prompted in large part by the pending court case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which is deciding whether the MPUC has authority to regulate Vonage’s DigitalVoice service. The text of the Vonage decision was released five days prior to oral arguments. The MPUC filed an emergency motion asking the court to postpone oral arguments until after it and the other parties had an opportunity to review and file supplemental briefs on the FCC’s decision. The court, however, denied the motion and oral arguments took place as scheduled.
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Posted by vonage on Thursday, December 02 @ 22:56:33 EST
(720 reads)
Read More: FCC Preempts State Regulation Of VOIP Services
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Minnesota Backs Down On VoIP Regs |
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Minnesota Backs Down On VoIP Regs--For Now
December 1, 2004
By Ben Charny
Utility regulators in Minnesota have temporarily halted the first-ever attempt by a state to impose its telephone rules and regulations on an Internet telephone service provider.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission acted partly because of a recent Federal Communications Commission order to stop its effort. The FCC claimed sole jurisdiction over Vonage in its order, issued early last month. In halting its regulatory plan on Tuesday, the Minnesota commission promised to resurrect the effort should a judge or Congress modify the FCC's order. Minnesota utility regulators will also jumpstart the effort should a court decide U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Davis was wrong to permanently bar Minnesota from regulating Vonage last October. A decision is expected in about 90 days.
A spokesman for the commission didn't return a call seeking comment. Its options, according to James Ramsay, general counsel of the National Association of (state) Regulatory Utility Commissioners, include challenging the FCC's recent order decision in court. "I'm expecting at least one state to appeal," Ramsay wrote in an e-mail. He didn't disclose--of the dozens that have unsuccessfully tried to regulate Internet phone service providers in the past two years--which state he meant.
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Posted by vonage on Thursday, December 02 @ 22:52:47 EST
(628 reads)
Read More: Minnesota Backs Down On VoIP Regs
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Vonage Sets UK Launch Date For Cut-Price Phone Service |
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Vonage Sets Launch Date For Cut-Price Phone Service
December 1, 2004
By Damian Reece
VONAGE, THE 3i-backed US telecoms group, yesterday said it would launch its internet-based telephone service in the UK on the 28 December which it promised would undercut every existing fixed-line telecoms operator in the country, including BT Group.
John Rego, the company's chief financial officer, said: "The price plans will be very competitive and they will beat all the incumbent pricing."
Vonage services route fixed-line telephone calls over the internet, making them much cheaper than calls routed over traditional networks. In the US the company has two consumer tariffs similar to the sort of pricing used by mobile phone groups and which will be imported into the UK.
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Posted by vonage on Thursday, December 02 @ 22:46:23 EST
(781 reads)
Read More: Vonage Sets UK Launch Date For Cut-Price Phone Service
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VoIP Sounds Off Cheaper Phone Calls With New Features |
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Voice-Over IP Sounds Off
Cheaper Phone Calls With New Features
December 1, 2004
By Lina Malkawi
Ever since the invention of the telephone in 1876, our voices have had the ability to travel over long distances, bring people together and make communication, coordination and collaboration instantaneous.
Yes, our voices have come a long way, but Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) marks a true milestone in communications history. VoIP sends calls made on ordinary telephones over the Internet, as opposed to regular phone lines, allowing for drastically lower rates and new features. The technology, which has been steadily improving over the last decade, has evolved to the point where businesses are now using it on a large scale, both to reduce calling costs and to offer increased portability to their employees.
The idea of having someone's voice travel over the Internet had its start in 1995, with the emergence of services that converted analog voice into digital data packets and transmitted them over the Internet. However, communication was possible only if both parties had a computer equipped with a sound card, speakers and a microphone, and were connected simultaneously to the Internet.
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Posted by vonage on Thursday, December 02 @ 22:38:26 EST
(775 reads)
Read More: VoIP Sounds Off Cheaper Phone Calls With New Features
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VoIP Cost Savings Entice Carriers |
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VoIP Cost Savings Entice Carriers
December 1, 2004
By Stefan Dubowski
Voice over IP (VoIP) may well bring cost savings to businesses, but what do carriers get out of it? Apparently the technology does just the same for service providers, judging by the words of presenters at a Toronto telecom conference.
At the Canadian Institute’s VoIP Summit, held on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, speakers from Vonage Holdings Corp., Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE), Telus Corp. and Allstream outlined their companies’ interest in VoIP.
According to Vonage Canada president Bill Rainey, IP phone technology lets his company get into the carrier game at a much lower price than the traditional carriers faced when they started out. Rainey said it cost Vonage $22 million to build its North America VoIP access service. Lawson Hunter, BCE’s executive vice-president, his company has $3 billion sunk into its traditional, non-VoIP network and pays $1 billion a year for upkeep.
Rainey said his company operates a VoIP service that is detached from traditional access technology. Vonage’s service rides on the Internet, whereas BCE and its subsidiary Bell Canada had to roll out wires to bring regular phone service to its customers.
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Posted by vonage on Wednesday, December 01 @ 23:00:00 EST
(1176 reads)
Read More: VoIP Cost Savings Entice Carriers
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FCC Preempts State Utility Regulation Of VoIP Services |
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FCC Preempts State Utility Regulation Of VoIP Services
Ruling Clears Way For MSOs, Bells, Third Parties To Roll Out IP Telephony
December 1, 2004
By Alan Breznick
In a decision with major implications for cable operators, phone companies and other telecom players, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled last month that state utility commissions don't have the authority to regulate voice-over-IP (VoIP) service like traditional phone service.
As expected by agency observers, the FCC told states to back off in their attempts to treat Vonage Holdings Corp.'s DigitalVoice service as a conventional landline service.
Such states as Minnesota and New York have sought to make Vonage comply with traditional phone rules, which would force it to file pricing plans, offer 911 emergency services and pay into local universal service funds. With its early November ruling, the FCC preempted these moves, declaring that only it has the power to regulate services like Vonage's.
Acting on a petition filed by Vonage against the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission last fall, the FCC found that DigitalVoice is an "inherently interstate" service that can't be broken down into local, interstate and international segments. The Commission noted that Vonage's customers can use their phones from a broadband connection anywhere in the world, making it tough, if not impossible, to figure out whether a call is local, interstate or even international in nature.
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Posted by vonage on Wednesday, December 01 @ 20:48:44 EST
(685 reads)
Read More: FCC Preempts State Utility Regulation Of VoIP Services
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Cheap Talk |
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Cheap Talk
December 1, 2004
By Joe Waller
International Travelers Are Finding Big Savings Where Phone Technology Meets The Internet.
Richard Cowell, an information specialist for the British consulate in New York, resides in Manhattan, but when he calls his parents, who live in England—and when they phone him—the calls are free.
Both Cowell and his parents are part of the legions of new VoIP subscribers. VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a method for routing phone calls via the Internet by breaking the voice signal into small data packets—similar to the way an e-mail or Web page is sent. And, as with e-mail, the cost is the same no matter where you’re calling: Provided you have Internet access, the connection is free.
VoIP technology has been around for years, but it has only recently hit the mainstream as broadband connections become more common (the faster speeds allow instantaneous transmission of your voice and better clarity) and major phone and cable providers begin to offer the service. The Yankee Group, a telecommunications research firm, predicts there will be 17/5 million VoIP subscribers by 2008, up from one million in 2004.
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Posted by vonage on Tuesday, November 30 @ 23:00:00 EST
(632 reads)
Read More: Cheap Talk
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Metro Area Attracts Venture Capital |
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Metro Area Attracts Venture Capital
November 30, 2004
By Jamie Herzlich
Joseph Chappell, chief executive of a Manhattan software developer, said his company didn't have to bang on too many doors to get its latest round of venture capital financing.
After all, it was the sixth round of funding for the 6-year-old company and it had a proven track record.
"It happened fairly quickly," Chappell of MetaMatrix Inc. said in an interview yesterday. His company snagged $12 million in the third quarter within roughly two months.
MetaMatrix was one of 42 metropolitan area firms that scored big in the third quarter, according to a new survey. All told, 42 companies received $457 million from venture capital firms and similar entities during the quarter, according to a new Money Tree Survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Venture Economics, and the National Venture Capital Association. This represented a 56 percent increase from this year's second quarter and a 32 percent increase from the third quarter of 2003.
"The region did very well," said David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Manhattan, who covers the metro region. "It appears to be on an upswing."
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Posted by vonage on Tuesday, November 30 @ 21:57:15 EST
(774 reads)
Read More: Metro Area Attracts Venture Capital
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Voice Over IP! What Does That Mean? |
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Voice Over IP! What Does That Mean? Well, It's An Inexpensive Way To Talk To Anyone In The World!
November 30, 2004
By Dick Debartolo
The folks at Vonage recognize the need to offer consumers more options for their broadband telephony and home networking needs. So now they offer a Linksys wireless broadband router bundled with its leading broadband phone service. The wireless router combined with Vonage's leading broadband telephony service is modernizing the way people communicate. By providing customers with both the hardware and Vonage service they can make high-quality phone calls at super low cost over their broadband connection It’s a complete solution in one box.
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Posted by vonage on Tuesday, November 30 @ 21:55:46 EST
(1610 reads)
Read More: Voice Over IP! What Does That Mean?
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