Yesterday six major high-tech associations collectively representing the growth engines of the economy (generating billions of economic activity every year, employing millions of workers, and representing thousands of companies) filed a friend of the court brief in support of the FCC’s decision to provide a single national policy framework for VoIP.

Because of the significance of the issue and the importance to the economy, the groups came together to support exclusive federal jurisdiction for VoIP in a case where Nebraska attempted to apply traditional phone rules to Internet based voice communication in contradiction to FCC policy.

The groups argue that not only is VoIP fundamentally different than traditional phone services and is providing enormous benefits to Nebraska’s consumers, but applying the state’s rules is contrary to FCC rules and could create potentially conflicting state requirements that would undermine the vast consumer and economic benefits that the FCC has attempted to foster by enabling new and innovative VoIP services.

The groups include the Voice on the Net Coalition, (“VON Coalition”), the Computer & Communications Industry Association (“CCIA”), the Telecommunications Industry Association (“TIA”), the Information Technology Industry Council (“ITI”), the Information Technology Association of America (“ITAA”), and the Fiber-to-the-Home Council.

This is a big deal, and a part of a broader effort to remove barriers that could determine how and when consumers benefit from the lower prices, new services, and advanced communication features that VoIP can deliver. There is growing consensus in the states, in Congress, in courthouses, and at the FCC that VoIP can be a force for increased competition, a platform for innovation, a driver of broadband deployment, and an enabler of economic growth. For example this builds on the bill signed by Pennsylvania’s governor on Independence day last week called the “the VoIP Freedom Act” which prevents the state from regulating VoIP services. The Pennsylvania bill finds that “The economic benefits, including consumer choice, new jobs and significant capital investment, will be jeopardized and competition minimized by the imposition of traditional State entry and rate regulation on voice-over-Internet protocol and Internet protocol-enabled services.”

I am hopeful that the 8th circuit will also come to the conclusion that consumers will benefit most from a consistent national policy framework.

Tags: VoIP, Public Policy, FCC, VON Coalition, Embarq, Jeff Pulver

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