In May of this year, the FCC issued an order requiring E911 service from interconnected VoIP providers.  These companies are similar to traditional telephone providers in that they enable customers to receive calls from and terminate calls to the public switched telephone network.  Examples of VoIP providers include Vonage, Packet8, AT&T’s CallVantage, Broadvoice, SunRocket and Voicepulse.

Corman noted that many of these companies already collect fees for providing 911 services to customers.  However, Pennsylvania currently has no law that compels them to forward those 911 fees back to the Commonwealth like traditional and wireless phone companies must do.

This week Corman introduced Senate Bill 936 to update Pennsylvania’s Public Safety Emergency Telephone Act.

“VoIP companies have been charging their customers fees for 911 services and scantily worded ‘regulatory recovery fees’ for years,” Corman said.  “But they keep these fees and do not send them back to the states like their competitors in the landline and wireless industries must do, to the detriment of our county 911 centers.  With this legislation we change that.”

Corman’s bi-partisan Senate Bill 936 requires all interconnected VoIP companies to charge customers $1 for each line and forward that money to Pennsylvania.  The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency would then provide the fees to the counties where the customers are located.

“In 2003 we responded to counties who said they were losing 911 fees to the wireless industry by placing a charge on each cell phone,” Corman said.  “Now must respond to the increasing market share of the VoIP industry and ensure that they also send 911 fees back to our counties to help pay for the infrastructure and services they use,” Corman said.