Freeing broadband
Back in Washington, D.C., opponents of the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 1999 [H.R. 2420] said the legislative initiative misses the mark when it comes to VoIP services. H.R. 2420 was crafted to speed deployment of broadband services across the U.S.

iAdvance co-chairs Mike McCurry and Susan Molinari told members of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee that the voice over the Internet argument is bunged. "It is not only wrong, it also exposes the sheer madness of layering telephone-era regulations, such as the interLATA restriction, on the Internet," they said.

They told Representatives Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) that the bill's current language would lift interLATA data restrictions to allow the regional Bell companies to enter the long distance voice market using VoIP technology.

"H.R. 2420 expressly prohibits any Bell operating company or its affiliates from providing two-way voice-only interLATA telecommunications services until it meets the requirements of Section 271 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996," the two wrote in a latter to the House. "It is there in black and white for anyone to read. They can not get around this prohibition using VoIP technology."

McCurry and Molinari cited independent research to show the House that VoIP has arrived.

"It is being used today by more and more consumers to make local and long-distance calls through the Internet. The software necessary to do so can be purchased in any store that sells software or downloaded from the Internet."

According to Gartner Group's Dataquest, 4.8 billion minutes of telephone conversation took place through IP-based networks in 1999. By 2003, Dataquest expects Internet telephony revenue to exceed $50 billion.

McCurry and Molinari said H.R. 2420 would undermine the competitive structure of local and/ or long distance telephone services.

"iAdvance urges you to reject the Internet telephony argument that will be made by the opponents of H.R. 2420," McCurry and Molinari said in a letter to the House.

The rant
Partisan activist group NetAction was more direct. On their web site, they posted a rant that included the statement, "H.R. 2420 would undermine a key provision of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 by effectively opening the long distance market to the nation's local phone monopolies before their local markets are in compliance with the Act's requirement that they be competitive. The bill accomplishes this by allowing the incumbent local carriers to begin offering data services across long distance boundaries. Since technological advances have eliminated the distinction between voice and data traffic, passage of H.R. 2420 would allow voice traffic to be carried over data networks, eliminating the last remaining incentive for local competition and allowing the Bells and GTE to retain their monopoly grip on consumers."

They added, "H.R. 2420 rewards companies for bad behavior! The incumbent local phone companies have done everything they can to resist the law – delaying, stalling, and filing scores of lawsuits. Why reward them for doing wrong?"

VoIP is here to stay, hey, hey
Whether Congress passes H.R. 2420 or not, use of VoIP technology will continue to grow. Meanwhile, regional Bell operating companies will not be allowed to market or offer VoIP service unless and until they receive approval to offer voice long distance service as provided in Section 271. In fact, the growth in consumer use of VoIP services offers yet another incentive for the Bell companies to get the approvals they need under Section 271.

Passions have clearly been raised, as a quick search on Google revealed several hundred current documents. A broad perspective is offered by this page from the Telecom Industry Association.

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