Title: Challenges of Convergence
1Challenges of Convergence
- J. Scott Marcus
- Senior Advisor for Internet Technology
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- The opinions expressed are my own and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the FCC or the
U.S. Government.
2Policy Challenges
- Convergence as a challenge to the regulator
- IP Telephony
- ENUM
- Broadband - cable versus DSL
3Convergence as a Challenge to the Regulator
- Technology changes quickly.
- Regulation changes slowly.
- The Telecom Act of 1996 is based on definitional
categories. - Definitions are blurring together.
- A possible approach Regulate the service not
the underlying technology. - Where this is not possible expect
- opportunities for regulatory arbitrage
- irrational results
4IP Telephony
- An innovative competitive and important service.
- Has flourished in a largely unregulated
environment. - Ongoing international pressure to rethink
regulatory status.
5U.S. Policy on IP Telephony
- No recent official statements.
- Stevens Report (April 1998)
- Where both sides are telephones IP telephony
bears many characteristics of a
telecommunications service however we must
consider specifics on a case-by-case basis. - Where at least one side is a computer IP
telephony should not be viewed (at present) as a
telecommunications service. - IP telephony does not directly contribute to the
Universal Service Fund (USF) but underlying
components (e.g. private lines) do thus IP
telephony does not necessarily generate a net
reduction in the USF. - IP telephony serves the public interest by
placing significant downward pressure on
international settlement rates and consumer
prices.
6European Commission Policy
- 1998 notice concluded that Internet voice
services do not constitute voice telephony
UNLESS - they are offered commercially and separately to
the public as voice services - they are provided to and from PSTN termination
points and - they are offered in real time at the same level
of speech quality and reliability as is offered
by the PSTN. - January 2001 communication reaffirmed the 1998
position observed however that the quality of
IP telephony over a single network has improved. - As the EC migrates to a new telecommunications
regulatory framework the subject will be
reevaluated using methods borrowed from
competition law.
7IP Telephony and the ITU
- Significant interest within the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) in defining
Internet telephony and IP telephony. - Many members would like to make IP telephony
subject to international accounting rates. - ITU Study Group 2 recently declined to create
definitions observing that Internet telephony
should not be viewed as a service.
8ENUM - a Pandoras Box
- The Internet versus the PSTN
- Global Internet versus national numbering plans
- ITU versus IETF
- Free market mechanisms versus government
regulation - Incumbents versus insurgents
- Centralized versus decentralized control
- Issues of security hijacking privacy SPAM
slamming and number portability ...
9U.S. Industry Recommendation
- ITAC-T Advisory Committee to Department of State
- Recommends that the U.S. participate in a global
global ENUM implementation rooted at e164.arpa. - Notes the need for open competition especially
at ENUM Tier 2 and recognizes that other ENUM
domains are not precluded.
10Position of U.S. ITU Delegation
- Supportive of a global tree under e164.arpa
- Recognition of sovereign rights of nations to
choose to opt in or not - Allow for competition wherever possible
- Promote interworking between different approaches
and systems - Cooperation between IETF and ITU
- Market-based system with minimal regulatory
intervention - Must not be inconsistent with
- competition in telecommunications
- encouragement of innovation
- promotion of advanced data services
11Broadband
- Categorization of cable access to IP services is
uncertain - Categorization of telephony over cable is
uncertain - High Speed NOI in process
12Where to from Here
- Technology will continue to change quickly.
- Regulation will continue to change slowly.
- For now there is no panacea no silver bullet.