Fergie's Tech Blog

Telecom Fear-Mongering: 'Phantom' VoIP Traffic Costing Billions

Grant Gross writes on PC World:

Some VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and mobile phone service providers are riding free when connecting to the traditional telephone network in the U.S., potentially costing carriers billions of dollars, according to testimony at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Many voice calls now don't include the identification needed for carriers to charge access fees for calls coming into their networks, said Raymond Henagan, general manager of Rock Port Telephone, based in Missouri. These so-called phantom calls are particularly hard on rural telephone carriers, which receive an average 29 percent of their revenues from the intercarrier compensation system, he told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Some VoIP providers have refused to pay access fees by saying the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has "given them permission to use the networks for free because they're IP," Henagan said. "You and I both know these are regular voice calls, people talking to people. Because these companies have sprinkled IP fairy dust on them, they think they get a free ride."

posted by Fergie @ 4/23/2008 02:28:00 PM