[Missouri Counsel] Van Eschen said the ruling barring state regulation is based on a Vonage customer’s ability to “plug in anywhere in the broadband world.†Not so with a local cable operator, such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Their customers must initiate a call on their plant, located in Missouri.
So, Missouri’s case is based on a literal technicality. This begs a more fundamental question: just what constitutes eligibility for public utilities regulation? With the glaring exception of emergency calling, the Internet has done a pretty good job of governing itself in its two-decade existence. So, just what are the underlying reasons for regulation of Internet-based voice services such Comcast’s:
- The government (federal and state) recognizes the swift and successful emergence of IP voice services.
- The government doesn’t want to miss out on any loot.
- Control over the so-called public infrastructure is maintained through tarriffing and licensing. Without such controls on IP, the economic and social impact of such services is outside the domain of the governing bodies.
So, you could conclude this is all about two things: money and power. But there’s another question that needs to be answered, and fast: How does the consumer community benefit when IP voice services are regulated? I argue that further encumbrance of innovative technology hampers the ability for thought leaders to get that technology out to the masses. Cases in point:
- Look how long it’s taken domestic cell-carriers to IP-enable their networks. Today’s wedge solutions like GPRS and EVDO are shoehorned into the working infrastructure that has evolved partly to satisfy the revenue-hungry regulators.
- Fios. Where the heck is it? If the government hadn’t cut the ILECs such a sweet deal ten years ago, fiber might indeed be everywhere right now. Instead, we’re waiting business interests that have no competitive incentive to roll it out, since they’ve been guaranteed no competition once the fiber is buried.
So am I big fan of telco regulation? It think it’s fair to say that IP communications technology has the best impact when politicians keep their grubby hands off. And yes, for those of you keeping track, I DID just defend Comcast.
Our Trackback……
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]………
abreast…
Originally posted by more nlitened: “These instructions seem easy.However, I have just a question or two.In, “To Publish Content on your Website”, you wrote, “If your network has a name resolution system (typically DNS), then visitors can simply ty…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Very good site !…
We’re a gaggle of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your website provided us with helpful information to work on. You have done an impressive process and our whole group will probably be grateful to you….
Blogs to check…
[...] Blogpost: article .. noticed this write-up on the subject of [...]…
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Worthy sites…
[...] below are a few links to sites that we link to mainly because we feel they’re really worth visiting [...]…
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Cool website…
[...] Blogpost: write for .. noticed this write-up about [...]…
Superb website…
[...] just down the page, are a number of totally not relevant sites to ours, even so, they’re certainly worth talking about [...]…
Websites to visit…
[...] I noticed somebody having a debate about this on Tumblr and it correlated to [...]…