"It feels like 1999 all over again," said Jeff Pulver, describing what he said called a second coming of VoIP. Attendance at the Spring VON conference being held this week in Santa Clara, California is back to its pre-bubble days -- over 3,500 attendees are expected, including a majority of carriers. In his opening keynote address, Pulver observed that venture money is flowing back into VoIP start-ups again and there are even rumors that IPOs will be possible once again by early next year. The feelings of optimism can also be traced to the FCC's recent declaratory ruling, which found that Pulver's Free World Dialup service is an "information services" and not subject to traditional telecom regulation. It's clear that the FCC finally understands the issues involved. Meanwhile, major new VoIP products and services continue to hit the market every day.
Nevertheless, Pulver insisted that it is still "early days" for the VoIP industry. He noted that there currently exist fewer than 200,000 consumer VoIP accounts in the U.S. compared with some 23 million broadband users. The market has not yet "crossed the chasm" and the industry is still in the early adopter phase. Pulver commented that what the market really needs at this point is for someone like Steve Jobs to come up with a really great consumer iPhone -- something that is not just a plain old phone reworked for IP, but instead a breakthrough product for mainstream consumers.
Pulver also observed that the prospect of a re-write of Telecom Act of 1996 will be a two-edged sword for all of us. It is not evident how non-incumbent VoIP service providers can survive -- clearly it won't be on price alone. Major carrier are already coming to market with feature-rich VoIP offerings. Pulver also acknowledged the tough social policy issues raised by VoIP: CALEA cannot be ignored, E911 is critical, support for people with disabilities is necessary. He echoed calls for Universal Service to become Universal Broadband.
Pulver is proposing the concept of Globally Accepted Service Principles (GASP) to guide the industry. These would include the Four Freedoms outlined recently by FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell; a code of best practices for 911; a code of best practices for CALEA; and a vision of open peering with other service providers. To drive these principles forward, Pulver is establishing a global, non-profit organization to develop an IP Communications Memorandum of Understanding. The first meeting will be held this week at VON.
- On 12-Feb-2004, FCC Commissioners voted 4-to-1 to approve a Declaratory Ruling that pulver.com's Free World Dialup (FWD) service is neither a “telecommunications service�? nor “telecommunications,�? and therefore not subject to traditional telephone regulation. The FCC also declared FWD to be an unregulated information service that is subject to federal jurisdiction.
- Pulver's FWD allows users of broadband Internet access services to make VoIP or other types of peer-to-peer communications directly to other FWD members, without charge.
- FCC Commissioner Michael K. Powell said the ruling "formalizes the Commission's policy of “non-regulation�? of the Internet and, in so doing, preserves the Internet as a free and open platform for innovation. Just as important, today's ruling removes barriers to investment and deployment of Internet applications and services by and ensuring that Internet applications remain insulated from unnecessary and harmful economic regulation at both the federal and state levels."
- On 09-February-2004, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell issued a challenge to high-speed Internet providers to adopt a set of four voluntary “Net Freedom�? principles:
- Freedom to Access Content. Consumers should have access to their choice of legal content.
- Freedom to Use Applications. Consumers should be able to run applications of their choice.
- Freedom to Attach Personal Devices. Consumers should be permitted to attach any devices they choose to the connection in their homes.
- Freedom to Obtain Service Plan Information. Consumers should receive meaningful information regarding their service plans.
