SUNUNU ISSUES REMARKS ON “VOIP REGULATORY
FREEDOM ACT OF 2004”
WASHINGTON, DC – United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH)
gave the following remarks on the floor of the United States Senate
on April 6, 2004, regarding legislation he introduced legislation
entitled “The VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004” (S.
2281):
“Madam President, I rise to speak today on legislation I introduced
this week called the VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004. This is
legislation that deals with the issue of voice communications sent
using Internet protocol that many Members of this body may not be
familiar with or may not have heard a great deal about; but it is
a new technology that takes advantage of the growing broadband networks
that are in place in this country to send voice messages, much the
same as one might send an e-mail or an instant message. It is a
growing area of technology and innovation, but it is one where there
is not a very clear path regarding regulatory and taxing jurisdiction,
and there are not a lot of laws on the books that clearly address
this new technology.
“In order to encourage continued investment in and continued
use of this application and this system for sending voice traffic
and in order to make sure consumers continue to have the benefits
of lower costs, new features, and better service that is the potential
of this technology, I have introduced legislation this week.
“First and foremost, S. 2281 declares this is a technology
that uses national and global broadband data networks, the Internet,
that we have all read and heard so much about by this point in time.
It recognizes these are international networks, global networks,
and therefore we should have Federal jurisdiction in this area.
“Second, it takes the step of preempting States from regulating
in this area, the area related to voice-over-Internet-protocol applications,
because what we do not need is a patchwork of 50 different sets
of regulations that would stifle the innovation, the investment,
and the productivity we all hope will come from this technology.
“Even worse, the regulations some States have already begun
to try to apply are not regulations developed for the Internet,
broadband, or a voice-over-Internet-protocol application. They are
really designed for a copper wire circuit switch telephone network
that was invented 100 years ago and for which most of these State
regulations were developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. It is
an outdated system and we should not be trying to force old regulatory
structures on this new technology.
“Third, the VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004 that I have
introduced will clarify the definition for information services,
for VOIP applications, in a way that can be easily understood given
new and emerging technologies. I was not in Congress at the time,
but Congress wrote the 1996 Telecommunications Act that talked about
information services and telecommunications. Quite frankly, it did
not envision these kinds of voice applications being offered over
the public Internet or over private networks. So as a result, we
have had lawsuits, not surprisingly. In America, if one is unsure
of what is happening, if one does not like the law, get a lawyer
and sue, but we have had lawsuits because of the lack of clarity
in some of these definitions. My bill would clarify the definition
of voice-over-Internet-protocol. It states clearly what it is and
what it is not from a regulatory perspective, and then treats it
much like we would any other information service that uses Internet
protocol, whether it is an e-mail, an instant message, or sending
other data over the Internet.
“This bill does address a lot of key concerns regarding telecommunications
and the old telephone circuit switch telephone network. The bill
makes sure that voice-over-Internet-protocol providers participate
in existing Federal universal service programs. In other areas,
such as E-911 emergency calling, and disability access, the bill
calls for an industry group to work out the implementation of these
important features for the new technology. S. 2281 will make sure
we do not apply the old access charges to this new technology. We
put forward a requirement for the FCC to work out a new system for
intercarrier compensation and, of course, we recognize law enforcement
will need access to these new voice-over-Internet-protocol applications
and state it has to be the same or better access but no less than
the access available for information services that currently exist
today.
“Finally, the bill protects consumers by ensuring that this
new service won’t be taxed at the State level. Everyone knows
the more you tax something the less you get. If you want to discourage
investment, innovation, and capital from moving into important new
services like this, then raise the taxes and discourage that investment.
From my perspective, this would be the wrong direction.
“I think this bill provides for enormous opportunity for consumers,
including robust features and functions, more options, and lower
prices.
“It is important to note that we have narrowly tailored this
bill to deal with the voice-over-Internet-protocol applications.
It should be clear that is not an effort to rewrite the 1996 Telecommunications
Act.
“I urge my colleagues to take a look at the legislation and
step forward. Let me know your views and thoughts. We are likely
to have hearings on this bill in the Commerce Committee in the coming
months. I look forward to a vigorous and substantive debate.”
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