BellSouth Petition to FCC Threat to VoIP, Says Pulver

A recent petition by BellSouth Corp. to the FCC “might cause serious problems” for VoIP service providers, says Jeff Pulver, president and CEO of Pulver.com.

The petition could limit “the ability of unaffiliated ISPs and VoIP application service providers [without their own underlying telecom transmission facilities] to continue to be viable providers of VoIP services,” he continues.

The petition – which Pulver calls “this season’s sleeper issue” – asks for changes to two areas of FCC rules: the so-called Computer Inquiry Rules and features of the common-carriage requirements for broadband networks. BellSouth is asking for “forbearance” on both rules.

“Essentially these are the rules that require us to sell pieces of our broadband network to other ISPs,” says Kevin Curtin, director of corporate communications at BellSouth. “We are talking about the Mindsprings rather than, say, Covad. With Covad it is more of a line-sharing issue.”

BellSouth’s request is that the FCC suspend rules that require incumbent carriers to give access at regulated rates and allow “access to the platform through privately negotiated contracts,” says Curtin. “It would be a commercial negotiation with us and the ISP.”

The change would not reduce competition, Curtin says, because more than 90 percent of DSL users in BellSouth’s area are BellSouth retail customers and only 10 percent are served by other ISPs. He says it would also save the telco millions that it now spends providing infrastructure to support separate access to its networks for ISPs.

The other issue for BellSouth is that it must give access to its network while cable companies do not. Changing the rules to end DSL access would put telcos and cablecos “on a level playing field.”

If the Bells no longer have an obligation to provide tariffed access to ISPs, the narrowing of DSL choices could endanger access to hosted services, such as VoIP, says Jonathan Askin of Pulver.com.

“If the FCC gives meaning to Chairman Powell's conception of Net Freedoms (the right of consumers to access the content and applications of their choice and to attach the personal communications devices of their own choosing), then it might be less important that ISPs would have reduced access to the Bell network,” Askin says.

Many small independent ISPs already are actively developing alternatives to DSL, which they see as only marginally profitable or limited. Many are choosing wireless services in the unlicensed bands and are eagerly awaiting WiMAX technology, which could bring them greater bandwidth, longer reach and lower costs.

BellSouth does not provide consumer VoIP services and does not sell so-called “naked DSL,” that is, DSL sold without requiring that the subscriber also pay for a phone line, whether or not they intend to use it.

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