Earlier this week I testified in Pennsylvania in support of SB 1000, legislation designed to prohibit price and terms of service regulation of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and other IP-enabled products and services.
At the hearing it was clear that most favored the bill. And why not? By not regulating IP-enabled services and VoIP, I testified that it would actively promote consumer welfare and business innovation in Pennsylvania. One study from Micra finds that Pennsylvania residents would save up to $4.8 billion over the next five years.
Yes, yes, all fine and good. But what about access charges, asked Embarq? What about union jobs, cried the CWA? What about consumer protection? What about the children? (OK, nobody said this last one).
The bill will probably pass into law, but the hearing was a microcosm for the greater debate needed for real telecom reform, so we don’t import old-world telecom regs meant for the AT&T monopoly onto today’s more competitive landscape. But in the meantime, we need to deal with entrenched parties that benefit from regulation and old school natural monopoly thinking about the communications marketplace. Creating a regulatory firewall based on technology – which VoIP non-reg bills do – is perhaps the best we can get right now…until we have communications without commissions.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.