In April, U.S. Rep. Charles Pickering (R-Miss.) and U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) introduced the "VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004" in their respective chambers. As stated in the text of the bill, the purpose of the Act is " to provide a clear and unambiguous structure for the jurisdictional and regulatory treatment for the offering or provision of voice-over-Internet-protocol applications, and for other purposes." In its current form, the bill provides for the establishment of "voluntary" standards for VoIP E9-1-1 services.
The absence of any form of regulatory framework would allow VoIP providers to choose to simply notify their customers that they will not have traditional 9-1-1 services. The proliferation of this new technology under these circumstances could create a step backward for 9-1-1. Public safety's ability to deal with the needs of the public may indeed diminish proportionately to the rapid expansion of VoIP technology. APCO International has taken a strong position against this and has advocated to Congress to authorize the FCC to regulate VoIP E9-1-1.
"Public safety has worked tirelessly to ensure that the FCC is the regulatory body of E9-1-1," APCO International President Vincent Stile said. "It is imperative that the FCC's hands are not tied by any legislative initiatives that try to restrict regulation of VoIP. Any legislation to protect VoIP from regulation needs to be separated from E9-1-1."
