FCC Mull November VoIP Vote
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WASHINGTON -- In the absence of congressional action, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell has taken over the direction of Voice over IP (define) policy in the Capitol, at least for the time being.
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Customers want the service, changes are in the works, and counting Vonage out could be a mistake.
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(InfoWorld) - Two important votesÂ concerning San Francisco's plan for citywide Wi-Fi that were set for this week have been pushed back, delaying what may be life-or-death decisions on the controversial network. One vote of the city's fractious Board of Supervisors could force the project to undergo an environmental impact study. The other, by the board's Budget and Finance Committee, would reject the plan or send it on to the full body for final approval. Hanging in the balance is a proposal that was introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004 and has become one of the major initiatives of his administration. As the votes were pushed back, Board President Aaron Peskin was preparing a set of amendments to theÂ contract hammered out by the city and EarthLinkÂ in January. Those changes aim to address concerns of some critics but may not win over vocal opponents on the board. San Francisco is one of many municipalities pursuing wireless networks to make Internet access more widely available, both to close the technology gap between richer and poorer residents and to boost the local economy. Its contract calls for EarthLink to offer 1MbpsÂ service for about $20 per month and GoogleÂ to offer a free service on the same network. Activists and some leaders in the city have raised alarms that echo worries in some other cities, such as how well the network will perform. They have also raised issues that are specific to San Francisco. For example, Google's proposed free service has come under particular fire for allegedly threatening users' privacy and being too slow, at 300Kbps. In one local twist, the San Francisco Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union (SNAFU) has appealed an April decision of the city's Planning Commission that exempted the network from environmental review. SNAFU, which has fought the placement of cellular base stations near schools, hospitals and some other sites, says Wi-Fi access points on light poles could harm residents' health. It will be up to the Board to force the review or let the exemption stand. At a pro-Wi-Fi rally outside City Hall on Tuesday, Newsom and other speakers called for quick approval of the project and scoffed at the environmental concerns. Newsom called the environmental question "a canard." Citywide Wi-Fi is critical to minority communities that lack Internet access and is being fought mostly by people who have it, speakers at the rally said. Leslie Rule, an educational technologist at local public broadcaster KQED, said she had read all of SNAFU's appeal of the Planning Department's decision. "They're worried about things that don't exist," she said. The rally brought together multiple groups from minority communities and drew about 100 protestors waving "Wi-Fi Now" signs. Peskin's proposed amendments, not yet spelled out in detail, include contract terms that would force EarthLink to serve all parts of the city and would boost the speed of the Google service to 500Kbps and protect users' privacy. They also would limit the term of network deal, under which the city would lease its light poles to EarthLink for placement of radios, to eight years and give the city the right to then buy the network. In general, the proposals are things the city tried to get during its own negotiations with EarthLink, said Brian Roberts, a senior policy analyst at the city's Department of Telecommunications & Information Services, which negotiated the deal with EarthLink. The city chose to try to conclude the talks and get the network built rather than press for every term it wanted, he said. "If Supervisor Peskin can get them, God bless him," Roberts said. Peskin said via e-mail on Tuesday that EarthLink had not yet responded to the proposed changes. If Peskin can work out terms he likes with EarthLink, the contract is likely to pass through the Budget and Finance Committee, on which he serves. But on the full board, some long-time opponents question the amendments and other members are also waiting to see more details. Â
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The Federal Communications Commission is set next month to decide how to auction spectrum to wireless carriers to bring high-speed Internet service to  airlines as early as next year. But, regulators have been boxed into a corner: promote low prices and great features, or ensure the service works reliably.
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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has ruled that incumbent local exchange carriers must connect to VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) services, overruling two state public service commission opinions.
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Starting in mid-October AT&amp;T, in partnership with industry-leader Linksys (a division of Cisco Systems (Quote, Chart)), will begin offering Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to home users across the country.
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The nation&#39;s top telephone regulators are widely expected to decide on Tuesday to further deregulate Internet phone services from Vonage Holdings and others.
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US Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell says that after the presidential election he will try to wrest regulatory control of voice over IP from the states because to thrive as a business, the technology needs a single, easy-handed
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U.S. Federal Communications  Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has asked for a legal ruling  on whether a recused commissioner could cast a tie-breaking  vote on AT&T Inc.'s  proposed acquisition of BellSouth  Corp. , an FCC official told Reuters on Friday.
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Vonage and AT&#38;T, still locked in a price war, are separately planning new features in a battle for VoIP customers.
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(InfoWorld) - Kevin Martin, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is trying to get the ball rolling toward a decision on AT&T Inc.'s proposed acquisition of BellSouth Corp. The commission appears to be deadlocked 2-2 on whether to approve the deal. The fifth vote that could break that tie belongs to Commissioner Robert McDowell, who is likely to be disqualified because he has worked for a carrier lobbying group, according to news reports. The US$67 billion deal would combine two of the nation's biggest service providers in a company that would include Cingular Wireless LLC, currently a joint venture of the two companies. Consumer advocates and other critics have slammed the plan. AT&T has negotiated with the government and agreed to some conditions, but the two Democrat Commissioners, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, still oppose the acquisition. Martin last week wrote a letter to tell key members of Congress he was asking the FCC's general counsel to consider letting McDowell vote, an FCC spokesman confirmed Monday. Under the Code of Federal Regulations, McDowell could vote if the counsel determined that the government's interest in having him participate outweighed "concern that a reasonable person may question the integrity of the agency's programs and operations." The companies announced the planned acquisition in March, and the U.S. Department of Justice approved the proposed deal without conditions in October. An FCC vote on it has been delayed several times.
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Here are answers to some of the most common questions people have when they're thinking about making the switch to voice-over-IP telephony.
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A proposal for a wireless phone directory raises concerns in Congress.
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A majority of the members of the Federal Communications Commission told a House panel yesterday that they support an open-access requirement for the coming radio spectrum auction that would give consumers more choices for cellphone devices and services.
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SAN FRANCISCO--The next battle between top Internet phone service providers Vonage and AT&amp;T will involve features like voice mail, according to key executives at both companies.
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The Senate is expected to decide this week whether to shield from civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on Americans.
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&quot;We cannot avoid this question any longer. It is very likely that treatment of VoIP will have some of the farthest reaching consequences of anything this commission