A Legal Framework For VoIP

A Legal Framework for VoIP

About ten years ago, a new technology was born, aiming to mark a change in long-distance communications. The technology was called VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, and it relies on the transmission of audio information in the form of data packets over the Internet. It took a while before it caught on, but today there are quite a lot of people and companies who have either already subscribed, or are considering subscribing to VoIP services.

While PSTN is thoroughly regulated, the same cannot be said of VoIP. The two technologies being fundamentally different, VoIP cannot be required to comply with the same regulations that form the legal framework applicable to traditional telephony. The FCC has been working on some regulations to impose on VoIP, but not much has been issued yet. This is partly what enables VoIP providers to offer their services for such low monthly fees.

However, there are issues that need to be addressed. The first serious problem connected with VoIP is the incompatibility of this system with the 911 services. The Public Safety Emergency 911 system was designed for landline telephones, allowing fast and reliable tracking of a caller’s location. Since VoIP functions in a completely different way from PSTN, the current 911 system doesn’t work for Internet telephony. If a VoIP user finds themselves in a critical situation and cannot indicate their location, the 911 operator cannot do much. Tracing is hardly ever possible beyond the location of the Internet service provider, since users are normally beyond firewalls and NAT routers. Cellular telephony was faced with the same problem, but the problem was solved when the Enhanced 911 system was implemented, making it possible to pinpoint the location of a cellular phone within a range of 25-100 metres by calculating its distance in relation to three signal monitors (the distance is inferred based on signal strength). However, things turned out to be more problematic with VoIP.

As a consequence of this technical issue, many VoIP providers do not include 911 support at all, while some do offer limited Enhanced 911 service. One of the partial solutions suggested would be for users to register their information with 911 once their VoIP account has been activated. This will enable the emergency service operators to know the location of the subscribers – but only as long as the phone is used at the registered address. If a user takes the phone with them and uses it away from home, the problem comes back. A better solution would be to keep your landline subscription or to have a cellular phone with you while travelling, even if you only intend to use it in case of an emergency.

VoIP providers will also ask you to sign a statement when you subscribe to the service, confirming that you are aware of the limited compatibility between 911 and VoIP. Initially, the FCC intended to shut down those providers whose users haven’t signed that statement, but a continuance was issued later. Meanwhile, the number of providers has grown, and even traditional PSTN companies are now beginning to offer VoIP services.

It is clear that the evolution of VoIP has been much faster and the growth much greater than the government initially expected. However, it is clear that this revolutionary technology is here to stay and will soon have its place defined and its statute officially regulated within the domain of telecommunications.

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