Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC Officials Divided On How To Dealn With VoIP

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 20:29:46 -0500

FCC Officials Divided On How To Dealn With VoIP

There is growing division within the Federal Communications Commission over how to
deal with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), according to sources inside the
agency. For his part, FCC Chairman Michael Powell would just as soon let sleeping
dogs lie.

Powell, sources say, considers the Internet-related technology to be embryonic at
best, not ready for prime time, If he had his druthers, he would delay – at least
for now – holding serious discussions about bringing VoIP into the regulatory
corral.

But his nemesis, fellow Republican Commissioner Kevin Martin has an altogether
different viewpoint, FCC sources tell TelecomWeb’s sister publication Telecom
Policy Report.
“Kevin sees this [VoIP] as the next big thing,” one source said. “He thinks VoIP
providers ought to be treated just like all other telecom service providers. In
other words, they ought to be subject to virtually the same rules, and that
includes providing contributions to the Universal Service Fund [USF].”
http://www.telecomweb.com/news/st7.htm

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