Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com

Internetnews story:

SBC says Voice over IP provider Level 3 is attempting to gain an unfair regulatory advantage in its effort to avoid paying access fees for IP traffic that interconnects with the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

The FCC released its much anticipated UNE-P rules for ILECS. These rules basically undo requirements by incumbent carriers to have to lease their lines to competitors at cost-based rates. There are some exceptions… For example, where there is limited competition. The rationale is that LECs will be able to invest more fully in building infrastructure if they know they don’t need to share these investments with competitors.

An insightful quote from the 100 page-plus order follows:

This Order imposes unbundling obligations in a more targeted manner where requesting carriers have undertaken their own facilities-based investments and will be using UNEs in conjunction with self-provisioned facilities.�  By adopting this approach, we spread the benefits of facilities-based competition to all consumers, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprise customers.�  We believe that the impairment framework we adopt is self-effectuating, forward-looking, and consistent with technology trends that are reshaping the industry.�  As we recognize below, the long distance and wireless markets are sufficiently competitive for the Commission to decline to unbundle network elements to serve those markets.�  Our unbundling rules are designed to remove unbundling obligations over time as carriers deploy their own networks and downstream local exchange markets exhibit the same robust competition that characterizes the long distance and wireless markets.

The bold text above is quite true as VoIP has increased long-distance competition by an order of magnitude.

Om Malik reports on his blog that Hong Kong residents can now get 100 megabits per second to their homes over an Ethernet-based connection. When will our government decide it is important for the US to compete effectively in the broadband race?

We need competition in broadband and incentives to provide it. We need incentives for higher-speed broadband service and most importantly we need it all now before the US becomes the third-world of broadband.

I must have been asleep a few days ago when Greg Galitzine blogged about the massive growth in the cable VoIP market. half a million cable VoIP subscribers are voiping together while in 2003 the number was closer to 50,000!

I suppose this is why Time Warner telecom has become a big part of Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in a few weeks. I may be going out on a limb but this event will likely be the largest VoIP show the world has ever seen from an attendance standpoint.