[Asterisk-biz] Re: US e911 reminder

[trixter aka Bret McDanel]

On Mon, 2005-12-05 at 13:22 -0500, Cirelle Enterprises wrote:
> When all the smoke clears, it will become clear former fcc powell was
> in the pocket of Verizon and SBC (wihcih is shortly to become ATT)
> with the deregulation of dsl lines and no longer need to sell access
> to anybody if they choose.
> 
> here is a link I came across which indicates Vonage has no intention
> of stopping to acquire new customers and how congress is in process of
> putting the brakes on the fcc with regard to 911 services
> 
> http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3567211


According to its FCC filing, Vonage has invested more than $50 million
in its E911 deployment with 125 full-time employees dedicated to the
project.

How many VoIP companies can afford that?  most cannot.  And vonage is
only at the 26% mark, all according to that article.  

Where does that $50M go?  most of it does not go to internal
infrastructure, instead it goes to the ILECs, largely the ones that have
been crying that VoIP is unfair to them becuse it lets people sell
service for less than they currently sell it for.  

I think this paints a picture that the ILECs are getting a windfall from
the order, and are in a position of too much power over the issue, one
thing vonage noted was that it was difficult to find out which
'router' (I think they meant switch but meh) a PSAP was connected to.
The LEC that provides service knows exactly which ones the PSAPs are
connected to, they also are in a position to make it easier on VoIP
providers to comply with the FCC but there is *no* order forcing them
to, and in some situations its clear they are doing everything they can
to prevent interconnection like that.

This is almost as bad as when the FCC ordered that sprint had to delay
their ion deployment for 2 years becuase AT&T and MCI said it was unfair
because sprint would be able to switch calls more cheaply than they
could and they need two years to play catch up.  The FCC has often ruled
in favor of the larger money interest vs what is best for the consumer.


-- 
Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com     Bret McDanel
UK +44 870 340 4605   Germany +49 801 777 555 3402
US +1 360 207 0479 or +1 516 687 5200
FreeWorldDialup: 635378
http://www.sacaug.org/ Sacramento Asterisk Users Group
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