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February 18, 2003
The Pulver Report - February 18, 2003
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In this Issue:
- Heard on the Net
- IP Telephony Jobs
- FCC puts the pulver.com Petition out for Public Comment
- VoIP is Under Attack [again] in the United States
- FCC Considering Whether to Regulate Voice Applications of the Internet
- Tipping Point Not Convergence. Think Renaissance.
- New Country Code for VoIP: "+87810"
- 2003: The Year of Consumer Communications Continues
- Spring 2003 VON Tradeshow & Expo: March 31 - April 3rd in San Jose
- Carl's Corner - All VoIP is Local
- NARUC VoIP Resolution Seeks to End Internet Non-Regulation
- Consumer Communications in the news: Selected Stories since 30-Jan-03:
- pulver.com 2003 Conference Calendar
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Heard on the Net
Consumer Communications continues to drive the media spotlight on
IP Communications thru February, 2003. It has been at least six, if
not seven years since there have been so many mainstream stories written
about Internet Telephony and the effects on business and consumers on
a daily/weekly/monthly basis. I've included selected links to some of
these news stories at the bottom of this issue of The Pulver Report.
- Companies on the Move:
pulver.com re-acquired the VON and SIP events from Key3Media.
( http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_pulver_reacquires_von/index.htm )
pulver.com filed a petition at the FCC asking for a Declaratory Ruling
on behalf of Free World Dialup. The FCC has put the petition out
for public comment.
Voyant Technologies recently acquired Octave Communications in
an all-stock transaction.
Intel has sold the rights to software products from its Trillium Digital
Systems subsidiary to Continuous Computing Corp.
The US Department of Commerce has recently recommended that the
US support ENUM and e.164.apra. Look for ENUM to become a very hot space
very quickly.
- People on the Move:
Bob Bownes recently joined IPLogic.
To be listed in a future "People on the Move" column, please
email: people@pulver.com to report a change in your position.
Please refer to: "People on the Move" in the subject.
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IP Telephony Jobs from: ( http://pulver.com/jobs )
As your companies have job openings during 2003, please consider posting
them with pulver.com. please email: jobs@pulver.com for job posting
information.
Recent job postings (as of February 17, 2003):
- Director, Digital Voice Product Strategy - Cablevision
- Director, Digital Voice Product Operations - Cablevision
- SIP Developer - pulver.com
If you are interested in pursuing this position, please visit
( http://pulver.com/jobs ) for full details.
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FCC puts the pulver.com Petition out for Public Comment
The FCC is looking for comments on the pulver.com Petition for a
Declaratory ruling that Free World Dialup should not be ruled as either
"Telecommunications" or as a "Telecommunications Service" as defined by
the Telecom Act of 1996.
Comments are due: 3/14/2003.
Reply comments are due: 4/2/2003.
FCC Public Notice:
( http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-439A1.pdf )
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VoIP is Under Attack [again] in the United States
Back in November, 2002 the IP Communications Industry had issues with the
way NANP ( http://www.nanpa.com ), the North American Numbering Plan
Administration, was approaching VoIP. While the folks at NANPA are still
working on their approach to VoIP, those of us who are living in the
United States who care about IP Communications now have a much more
immediate problem, the National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners, NARUC ( http://www.naruc.org ) and their 2003 Winter
Meetings ( http://www.naruc.org/Meetings/winter/2003/index.htm )
taking place Feb 22-26.
NARUC already has a strong anti-VOIP resolution set to go through their
voting process next Sunday. I've posted a draft copy that I've received
on February 14th to: ( http://pulver.com/reports/naruc1b.doc )
If the NARUC resolution gets passed it will create unnecessary taxes and
crippling administrative burden on the Internet and in fact would mark a
real dark day for IP Communications in the United States. Together we need
to counter lobbyist scare-mongering by explaining to state commissioners
that internet connections must not be burdened with crippling
administration.
The commissioners are worried that an explosion of internet calls could
threaten the Universal Service Fund. The reality is that it will be many
years before the volume of calls diverted is enough to affect service
funds, giving plenty of time to find a well-thought out response. The move
for immediate action is an attempt by some lobbyists to stifle future
internet choices hidden in some legitimate concerns.
People can find their State Commissioners email by visiting:
( http://www.naruc.org/resources/state.shtml ). People should use their
own words to send email to their respective State Commissioners. I've
posted a sample letter to: ( http://pulver.com/reports/narucletter.html )
as a reference. People can freely take from my draft letter
and make sure they mention the state they live in to make this effort
even more effective.
State commissioners play an important role, but few beyond the
professional lobbyists contact them on issues. Even a few emails have the
potential to sway them on an issue.
I'm am hoping that people take the time to reach out to their respective
State Commissioners this week and have their voices heard. Please
feel free to copy me on your emails. Together I know we can make a
difference. :-)
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FCC Considering Whether to Regulate Voice Applications of the Internet
Speak now, or forever hold your peace. In 2003 the FCC will decide
whether or not to regulate Internet Telephony in the United States.
On February 5th I filed a petition with the FCC on behalf of Free World
Dialup ( http://pulver.com/fwd ), asking for a Declaratory Ruling that
states that Broadband Internet Telephony, which doesn't touch the public
switched telephone network (PSTN), should not be ruled as either
"Telecommunications" or as a "Telecommunications Service" as defined by
the Telecom Act of 1996. On February 14th the FCC put the pulver.com
petition out for public comment. The public has until March 14th to
respond.
A copy of the original petition is posted to:
( http://www.pulver.com/reports/FWDPetition.pdf ) [1.5 MB file]
Back in March, 1996 the ACTA Petition was filed which in effect asked
for the internet telephony software companies selling to consumers to be
governed by the same regulations as phone companies. While the FCC never
ruled on ACTA, the petition started to raise questions about the future
regulation of Internet Telephony in the United States and around the
world. Some countries were quick to ban internet telephony based on the
out of control hype that existed back in the Spring of 1996 while many
other countries took a "wait and see" approach.
The pulver.com Petition is in many ways the exact opposite of the ACTA
petition insomuch as what I was asking for is that end-to-end Internet
Telephony over Broadband remain unregulated. After seven years of
waiting, now that VoIP technologies have gone mainstream and now that
consumers are once again using these technologies and now that these
technologies work quite well, I wanted to remove the cloud of regulatory
uncertainty when it came to VoIP and broadband Internet Telephony. My hope
is that "we" as a community can encourage the FCC for fast action on the
FWD petition as a way for the FCC to help encourage investment. Once the
regulatory uncertainty is removed, I strongly believe investors will once
again look at the VoIP industry as the hot space to invest in and
encourage innovation in.
Please take advantage of the pulver Petition and share your comments
with the FCC. Details on how to reply to the petition are posted to:
( http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-439A1.pdf )
Please reply by March 14th.
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Tipping Point Not Convergence. Think Renaissance.
by Daniel Berninger,
Let's admit the much anticipated *convergence* of telecom and networking
will never arrive. The world continues to move toward Internet like
packet based networks, but this represents displacement not convergence.
The Internet makes possible new modes of communication not simply
refinements of existing telecom services. Convergence suggests evolution
of legacy networks, but Internet revolution still seems more likely.
The present represents a *tipping point* between old and new in
communications. The future will unfold as if the PSTN never existed,
because the dominant forces and constraints have changed. The needs and
interests of telecom suppliers defined the old world. The future will get
shaped by the needs of end users and the creativity of entrepreneurs. The
transfer of power from network owners to network users seems unstoppable.
The future seems uncertain only for those without an historical
perspective. It represents an historical fact that monopoly suppliers
dominated the telecommunications landscape in the 20th century. It also
seems obvious the grip of monopoly diminished inexorably from the moment
Alexander Graham Bell first spoke with Watson through and including Jeff
Pulver's recent launch of a version of Free World Dialup that leverages
broadband.
The first 15 years of the telephone business after 1875 operated as a
global monopoly or at least it did within the reach of AT&T's patent
infringement lawsuits. A burst of competition (and anti-competition)
after the expiration of the patents shaped telecommunications at the turn
of the last century. Governments continued to aid and abet efforts by
suppliers to assert monopoly control over telecommunications, but advances
in technology tended to empower end users and entrepreneurs. More
recently, governments sought to facilitate competition as the best
antidote to monopolist misdeeds.
The emergence of the Internet outside the sphere controlled by traditional
telecom companies and regulatory oversight produced the crisis of recent
years. The present represents a tipping point as the grip of suppliers to
control their destiny goes to zero. The outcome of the present drama
associated with regulatory rulings by the Federal Communications
Commission in the United States will not alter the fundamental forces a
bit. The consequences for ignoring the reality of a newly empowered end
user grows, as do the opportunities available to those willing to embrace
it.
Governments got into the telecom regulation business to throttle abuses of
monopoly. There exists no inherent reason to regulate telephone service.
The use of regulation to obtain low cost and reliable service never
proved a match for the profit incentive of the incumbent. Forget the idea
that the Universal Service program helps the poor. Telephone service
remains out of reach for 90% of the world's population. The monopolies
doubled the cost of service in the last 10 years. Subsidies fail as a
means to make telephone service affordable just as they would have failed
in making computing affordable. Information technology sectors shaped by
competition driven innovation can accomplish far more than a regulated
industry.
Telecommunications proved the worst performing information technology
sector during the 20th century as measured by cost performance
improvements, service creation, employment growth, or revenue growth.
Monopolies obtain wonderful cash flow, but ignoring the interests of end
users means near zero growth. There exists no downside to a communication
sector driven by end users. The value chain looks exactly like the
present computer and networking industry. Imagine a telecommunications
sector growing at 35% per year for 25 years.
The availability of communication as an application already drives the
information technology sector and could do more absent the regulatory
uncertainty. The promise of Internet communication offers social
advantages like reducing the possibility of war. Why just have a hot line
between heads of state? Why not allow everyone to communicate with
everyone? Consumer communications enabled by the Internet can drive
commerce as did the emergence of the automobile. Railroads charge by time
and distance not unlike the present PSTN. The incumbent telecom
monopolies failed to expand their employment in the last 20 years. We
need to stop waiting for convergence and let the Communications
Renaissance begin!
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New Country Code for VoIP: "+87810"
With the advent of the rollout of the global ENUM trials,
VISIONng ( http://www.visionng.org ) has expanded the Worldwide ENUM
service. The deployment of the International country code "+87810" will be
offered to VoIP customers around the world by Internet Telephony Service
Providers.
US demonstrations are planned at Spring 2003 VON in San Jose
Telesoft and pulver.com have also announced their intention to offer ENUM
capabilities to their users, expanding services beyond traditional
service providers.
An affiliated company to pulver.com's Free World Dialup service will
become a Tier II ENUM registrar enabling Free World Dialup participants to
maintain an ENUM entry that will enable a universal service. The test plan
calls for the Free World Dialup community to be among the first to be
offered this experimental service.
As ENUM starts to happen around the world and in the US, organizations
like NANP who in the past have worried about the exhaust of area codes
and phone numbers in the US will have less to worry about.
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2003: The Year of Consumer Communications Continues
Back in 1995 and 1996 it was quite common to see a story in a mainstream
US business publication about the future of communications and the role
that Internet Telephony / VoIP technologies would be playing in the
future. Back then it was the stories of the consumers using their
software internet phones which were the lead-in for many of the stories.
Maybe we just took the press coverage for granted back then, but since
sometime in 2000, the positive press coverage disappeared and for the
first time it now seems to be back again and the focus once again is on
the consumer. Last time around many startups (and established companies)
made the mistake of focusing on the needs of the Telcos and decided to
leave the consumer telephony space in the dark. "Consumer Internet
Telephony is interesting but what is the business model?" is an excuse I
remember hearing.
For the companies who were successful in raising funds, and then getting
their companies acquired or merged with a Telco giant or for the
limited few who were themselves able to go IPO and create an exit strategy
for themselves and their investors, they mostly did pretty ok. But for
everyone else who just followed along feeling disrupted they helped create
a marketplace where there were 35-40 competitors for every "real" telco
customer, it became a matter of survival from the beginning.
This time around I just hope history doesn't repeat itself yet again.
We should learn from our past mistakes. Not everyone gets a second chance
to get it right. Now that the technology works, the protocol wars are
gone and the global QoS exists on the Internet backbone for high quality
global IP communications, let's take advantage of the spotlight and
deliver on the vision.
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Spring 2003 VON Tradeshow & Expo: March 31 - April 3rd in San Jose
Now that VON is back in the hands of pulver.com, we have taken the liberty
to help reshape VON into an event that stays true to it's industry roots
while providing a new platform for anyone interested in VoIP technologies
to learn about the latest trends and meet the people and the products
which are helping to redefine the state of the communications industry.
As a reader of the Pulver Report, if you register
( http://pulver.com/von/register.html ) using the special priority code:
PULRPT, you can now visit the exhibit hall and attend the special VON
"Keynote" sessions and general sessions for only US$ 125 from today until
March 30th. An updated exhibitor list is posted to:
( http://pulver.com/von/exhibitors.html ).
Co-located at Spring 2003 VON are a set of conferences, each filled with
industry executives and visionaries who will collectively help define
the issues facing the IP Communications industry and who will present
their solutions for how to help grow the industry and help VoIP maintain
the mainstream appeal which it has started to recently achieve.
If you are interested in VoIP technologies, please consider spending
time with us in San Jose at Spring 2003 VON.
Conferences co-located at Spring 2003 VON include:
- FastNet Futures
( http://pulver.com/fastnet )
- The VON Conference
( http://pulver.com/vonconference )
- VON Enterprise Forum
( http://pulver.com/enterpriseforum )
- VON Developers
( http://pulver.com/developers )
- The Location Based Services Summit
( http://pulver.com/lbs )
I would appreciate your help in increasing the awareness that Spring 2003
VON is happening. If there are people/topics that you don't see covered
that you would like to, please email: jeff@pulver.com and I will look to
address this at a future VON event.
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Carl's Corner - All VoIP is Local: Carl Ford,
We are at a critical point for the VoIP industry. Down in the dumps of
economics it is a great time to be outflanked. And NARUC, which has
traditionally been an ally against federal mandates such as Tauzin-Dingel
has two issues facing it.
The first is that many of the VoIP Carriers are providing an extreme
version of local number portability. I have been contemplating signing up
with Vonage for to obtain a California number so I can do better in
communicating so that I can better communicate with my West Coast
friends. From a California PUC viewpoint I am about as welcome as a fruit
fly.
First of all, figuring out who and where I am is not easy. Secondly,
after the initial payment by the ITSP to the ILEC/CLEC for the number,
little outside plant facilities are used. Traditionally,
revenue to the state in the form of ad valoreum taxes has been based on
the outside plant.
So I am not adding to the base. Now you and I know that the base is
decreasing anyway, but VoIP is an easy target. Secondly, there
is area code exhaustion. I don't know how it works in your
area, but the only press that makes it to the headlines for Telecom in New
Jersey is when the Area Codes get changed. You should see all the
articles from people upset with the mandated change.
They are concerned about not being able to reach their family. In
addition, they may pay tools because the digits have been changed
and expanded to include weird new area code patterns.
So if you are a state commissioner / politician, pointing at a law or
policy that you have done for the consumers in your area, while the phone
companies keep changing your area codes and revenue streams seems
appropriate. "Wag the Dog" with a bang and you can win re-election, have
a good press quote and looked like you really thought about this issue.
I am challenging us all to think about the benefits on the local economy
of remote phone numbers. It is a great way for commerce to be driven into
the area. It is also a recognition of the value of staying in touch with
family and friends in an area which equates to tourism. And as for taxes,
the ability to have calls be local take them out of the FCC's domain and
puts them into the control of the State.
This is a good thing for local politics.
If you have anymore thoughts I am:
to hear from you.
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NARUC VoIP Resolution Seeks to End Internet Non-Regulation
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) plans
to vote on a VoIP resolution opposing AT&T's access fee petition and
asking the FCC to break the long standing policy of Internet
non-regulation. The resolution language frames the dire consequences of
continued Internet non-regulation in hysterical terms. It seems VoIP
threatens to raise rates, destroy the Universal Service program, embrace
cheaters, bankrupt incumbent local exchange companies (ILEC's), shift
costs to rural areas, and threaten state authority to address number
portability, reciprocal compensation, unbundling requirements, etcetera.
In short, failure to regulate VoIP will cause an end of the world as we
know it or at least as state commissions know it. These characterizations
coincide with the policy positions of Verizon, SBC, and Bellsouth to an
extent that draws into question whether the United States Telecom
Association (USTA) authored the resolution. One can claim anything about
the future - like flying saucers landing on the White House lawn - but, it
seems prudent to back test theories and consider historical precedent. In
fact, flying saucers have never landed on the White House lawn
and the policy of Internet non-regulation (as a subset of a policy of
enhanced services non-regulation) implemented over the last 30 years has
always produced net benefits for all participants, incumbents included.
The Internet as a an increasingly important force for local, regional,
national, and global economic growth seems unlikely to have developed
absent the policy of non-regulation. There exists no historical
uncertainty about whether entrepreneurial activities prosper in a
regulatory environment. The imposition of usage based access fees on voice
applications of Internet will unquestionably discourage innovation and the
potential for non-usage based business models. The ILEC's have always
found reason to complain about the Internet - remember the threat dialup
users posed to network stability. The complaints have never materialized
into problems, because there either because no problem exists, or
a balancing compensation makes the supposed problem moot.
Rather than offering a one size fits all anti-Internet resolution, NARUC
should offer commissions an option to vote on a pro-Internet continued
non-regulation resolution. The policy of non-regulation in the
U.S. made the Internet possible, but tentative support for the Internet in
recent years already caused the United States to lose its leadership
status to countries in Asia. It seems essential to base regulation
of the Internet on facts.
The policy of Internet non-regulation should remain unquestioned
until the Bell company worry list becomes more than speculation.
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Consumer Communications in the news: Selected Stories since Jan-30-03:
Napster for Phones - Forbes - March 3, 2003
( http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0303/046a.html )
Net calls create buzz - RockyMountainNews - February 17, 2003
( http://tinyurl.com/60bw )
As Web expands, some say bell is tolling for Bells - Chicago Tribune -
February 16, 2003
( http://tinyurl.com/60bx )
Country code opens gate to Web phoning - Chicago Tribune -
February 15, 2003
( http://tinyurl.com/60by )
Speak Up On FCC VoIP Regulation - Slashdot - February 15, 2003
( http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/03/02/15/212259.shtml?tid=95 )
Leave VoIP alone' U.S. industry tells regulators - Total Telecom -
February 14 2003
( http://www.totaltele.com/view.asp?ArticleID=94512&Pub=tt )
U.S. looks to boost VoIP - CommsDesign - February 12, 2003
( http://www.commsdesign.com/news/market_news/OEG20030212S0041 )
FCC Petition to Free Voice - CommWeb - February 6, 2003
( http://www.commweb.com/article/COM20030206S0001 )
Here Comes the Real Fun for Telecom - BusinessWeek online -
February 4, 2003
( http://tinyurl.com/5bhf )
Operator, Get Me the Web Server - New York Times - January 30, 2003
( http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/technology/circuits/30basi.html )
One website which I now visit to check the pulse on US Broadband Consumer
Communications - from the vantage point of "consumer chat" is:
( http://www.dslreports.com/forum/voip )
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pulver.com 2003 Conference Calendar
( http://pulver.com/conference )
"Events for the Communications Industry" (tm)
March 31
- April 3rd - Spring 2003 VON Tradeshow & Expo,
San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA
( http://pulver.com/von ).
April 1-3 - FastNet Futures
( http://pulver.com/fastnet )
March 31-
April 2 - Spring 2003 Location Based Service Summit
( http://pulver.com/lbs )
June 9-12 - VON Europe 2003,
Olympia Conference Centre, London, UK
( http://pulver.com/europe2003 )
June 9-12 - Presence and Instant Messaging 2003
Olympia Conference Centre, London, UK
July 2003 - Supernova 2003, Washington D.C.
( http://pulver.com/supernova )
September
22-25 - Fall 2003 VON, Hynes Convention Center,
Boston, MA
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The Pulver Report to: jeff@pulver.com.
Jeff Pulver Tel. +1.631.547.0800
The Pulver Report Fax. +1.631.396.3996
February 18, 2003 http://pulver.com/reports
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