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July 30, 2004
My Testimony at the FCC Global Forum: Panel I - July 30, 2004
The following are my planned opening remarks for panel I of the FCC Global Forum taking place later today at the FCC in Washington, D.C.
The entire event will be available for viewing via the FCC webcast.
Thank you for inviting me to participate today in the Commission’s Global IP Forum.
I’m Jeff Pulver. As the President and CEO of pulver.com, I oversee about 20 operating companies, each of which is involved, in one way or another, in promoting IP communications. I manufacture IP communications devices, both wireless and wireline; I produce software to help facilitate IP communications; I publish VON Magazine, a magazine devoted to exploring the issues surrounding Voice on the Net. I also host the Voice on the Net Conferences. Each VON Conference draws thousands of attendees from dozens of countries and hundreds of companies around the world. I like to think that, through the VON Conferences, pulver.com has helped to spur the growth of IP communications and has provided essential thought leadership for the emerging industry, spurring innovation and more rapid adoption of IP communications.
I became a full-time VoIP hobbyist in 1995, combining my passion for community and technology and connecting my Ham Radio to the Internet to communicate with people around the world. This overall perspective drives my passion for Free World Dialup, which over the years has evolved into a peer-to-peer IP communications application. Today Free World Dialup provides IP-based communications services to more than a quarter-million Internet enthusiasts in some 185 countries around the world. Free World Dialup was, in fact, the subject of the Commission’s first order, and perhaps the world’s first positive regulatory statement, on IP communications. I applaud this Commission for its timely adoption of the pulver Order. If other countries would follow the lead established by the pulver Order, I am optimistic about the future and possibilities that IP communications affords.
I, however, am concerned that many countries might not follow the lead established by this Commission. Frankly, I am even concerned that this country might backtrack from the forward-looking thinking that inspired the pulver Order. I see Canada’s CRTC taking a critical looking at VoIP and suggesting that some carriers should not be allowed to take full advantage of IP technology to provide innovative services. I see the European Union suggesting that VoIP services might be subjected to onerous regulatory restriction. A similar proceeding has been opened in Australia and more will follow around the world.
And now there are rumblings here in the United States, both at the state and Federal level, that the nascent industry should be subject to archaic telecom regulations that never contemplated the empowering capabilities of IP communications. Just last week, in a bizarre last-minute procedural maneuver, an amendment was attached to what was intended to be the Sununu VoIP Freedom Bill, that would, arguably, subject even X-Boxers to paying into the universal service and intercarrier compensation support systems, simply because X-Box utilizes a voice application. This certainly runs counter to the logic of the pulver Order, and will only serve to stifle the growth of IP communications. This leaves me in the position to lead the charge against the bill if it were to be put up to vote as amended. I expect the 2005/2006 season to be a pivotal one for IP Communication regulation around the world.
Finally, I want to mention at the outset of this discussion, that I have established the Global IP Alliance, an international consortium of IP-based communications providers committed to realizing the promise of interconnecting IP-based communications. Among other things, the Global IP Alliance is committed to establishing industry-based solutions to the operational hurdles and social issues confronting the emerging IP communications industry. It is my hope that regulators around the World will look to the Global IP Alliance and recognize that the IP industry is capable of self-governance and will not feel compelled to intercede before a clear demonstration of a problem that cannot be fixed by industry and competitive market forces.
Thank you for allowing me to participate here today. I look forward to your questions and this discussion.
Posted by jeff on July 30, 2004 07:03 AM | Permalink
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