[Asterisk-biz] VoIP Compliance with the FCC, and your Local State Public Utility Commission. Either register as CLEC or IXC per this...

[M O]

Rehan,
Matt,


Matt, thanks for replying to Rehans question.
For everyone, Matt was making reference to 

www.fcc.gov
-----------

6/3/05
Commission Requires Interconnected VoIP Providers to
Provide Enhanced 911 Service.

Recorded Audio/Video Webcast of Commission Meeting
http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/mt051905.ram

But to add to the answer to the question posed by
Rehan,  

" Or any other government agency, if they havent, then
how does fcc rules the e911 and how does fcc know who
is and who is not a VOIP service provider? "

http://www.intelecard.com/inissue/03newtoprepaid.asp

According to Attorney at Law, Thomas K. Crowe:

Does regulation apply?
----------------------

At the outset, providers must consider whether their
business model will subject them to regulation or
allow them to operate outside the costly burdens of
regulation. While this determination is usually not
difficult in the case of a prepaid wireless or a
conventional prepaid calling card provider, it can be
more complex in other cases (for example, a prepaid
VoIP provider).

Companies that are subject to federal and state
regulation are called "common carriers." In general,
common carriers offer telecommunications service to
the public at large for a fee. The exact definition of
a common carrier can vary slightly by jurisdiction,
but it basically involves providing service to the
general public for a profit. If a telecommunications
company operates as a common carrier, it will be
subject to regulation and fall under state public
utilities commission (PUC) certification and Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) licensing
requirements. Just as important, it will be subject to
federal and state telecommunications regulatory fees
and assessments, including the Universal Service Fund
(USF) assessment, generally billed at 8-9 percent of
telecommunications revenues.

Conventional prepaid calling card providers are
generally classified as common carriers. So are
switched and switchless resellers, facilities-based
carriers, CLECs, dial-around or 101XXXX providers,
operator services providers and many others.
Wireless prepaid providers, even though they offer
wireless services, are also generally classified as
common carriers. This means that they must comply with
federal entry requirements (FCC Section 214 licensing)
and certain state PUC regulatory requirements.
---------------------------------------------------

Contact Staff attorney Gregory Kunkle (202)263-3642.
Tell him Martin sent ya! ;)

He can fax to you, as he did me, thier Attorney rates 
to get you properly licensed before the FCC.

As for me, WindyCitySDR, located here within Chicago,
Illinois, per the Illinois Commerce Comission, they
are interested in regulating you/your entity WHENEVER
you are carrying voice via any means within the state
of Illinois, PERIOD!!!

But the odd thing is, when I attempted to 
register with them, they, the ICC, told me though 
"We are DEFTLY interested in regulating you/entities
like you, the current position on ISPs or "ISP /
Internet Protocol related stuff ", they are taking a "
we wont fuck with you " approach.  

If they get complaints about you, they are shutting 
you down or giving you unwanted "DRAMA".

They'll let you operate, they dont track you down,
though they assured me it is something they could do
relatively simply.  Send undercover cops in to
purchase some VoIP service, knowing that within your
state you were to have registered, but you did not. 

So, we are in contact with them, and they are aware of
us, though they said there is nothing currently in
there charter that REQUIRES me to register with them,
nor they, the Illinois Commerce Commission, to 
regulate me, WindyCitySDR. :)  

So, at the VERY LEAST,  establish a contact with your
local state public utility and let them know what your
about like I did.  So nobody can one day say you tried
to avoid being regulated or whatever nonsense.    

Per this page here:  

http://www.regnumgroup.com/licensing.html

Specificly speaking:
--------------------

IXC - Inter-Exchange (Non-Dominant) Common Carriers
regulated by State Certification. These providers are
Common Carriers providing international or interstate
service on a wholesale, direct route, prepaid, or post
paid basis via either Traditional Mode (TDM) or Voice
Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). This category includes:

    * Facilities-based Carriers – Providers that own
and operates telecommunications switches and
transmission points between States within the United
States and/or international points of presence abroad.

    * Operator Service Provider – Providers that
provide alternative operator services for IXCs or toll
operator services to call aggregator locations; or
clearinghouse services to bill such calls.

    * Resellers – Providers that have one or more
switches but primarily leases the transmission
facilities of other carriers and bill its own customer
base for services used.

    * Switchless Re-billers - Providers that have no
switch systems or transmission facilities but may have
a billing computer. These clients aggregate traffic to
obtain bulk discounts from underlying carrier and
re-bills end users at a rate above its discount but
generally below the rate end users would pay for
un-aggregated traffic.

    * Multi-Location Discount Aggregator – Providers
that contract with unaffiliated entities to obtain
bulk/volume discounts under multi-location discount
plans from certain underlying carriers, then offers
resold service by enrolling unaffiliated customers.

    * Prepaid Calling Card Provider – Any person or
entity that purchases 800 accesses from an underlying
carrier or unaffiliated entity for use with prepaid
debit card service and/or encodes the cards with
personal Identification numbers. 

Competitive Local-Exchange Providers regulated by
State Certification. These providers are common
carriers that provide local access to consumers from
the public switched network on a prepaid or postpaid
basis:

    * Facilities Based and Re-Seller CLEC Providers -
Clients providing last Mile telecommunications service
to consumers to and from the public switched Network
via their own facilities or the facilities of another
CLEC or ILEC.
    * Data CLEC Providers – Clients providing last
mile data or VOIP service to consumers to and from the
public switched network via their own facilities or
the facilities of another CLEC or ILEC

State Telecom Licensing?
http://www.regnumgroup.com/licensing.html

Martin O'Shield

> 
> What is the DEFINATION of a voip service provider, 
> what if a company like net2phone is selling pre paid
> pc to phone service ?
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 10:00:52 -0400
From: Matt <mhoppes at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Asterisk-biz] e911 compliance
To: rehan at supertec.com, Commercial and
Business-Oriented Asterisk
	Discussion	<asterisk-biz at lists.digium.com>
Message-ID: <c11d025305060807008f39a3a at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Go to the FCC website www.fcc.gov and download the
recent documentation.  It clearly describes what a
voip provider is that needs to provide E911. 
Basically (and this is basic) if you require broadband
and the customer can receive calls and can place calls
you
need to provide E911 service. 

On 6/8/05, Rehan Ahmed AllahWala - Super Technologies
I
<rehan at supertec.com> wrote:
> Hello All,
> 
> I was wondering, Has any one registered there
company > as a VOIP service provider with FCC ?
> 
> Or any other government agency, if they havent, then
> how does fcc rules the e911 and how does fcc know
who > is and who is not a VOIP service provider ?
> 
> What is the DEFINATION of a voip service provider, 
> what if a company like net2phone is selling pre paid
> pc to phone service ?
> 
> OR ipkall is offering inbound phone service on ata 
> and pc.
> 
> I know i saw a thread going on before on this issue,
 
> but i still do not understand what to do about this 
> issue.
> 



		
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