SBC to Offer VOIP 911 Service

SBC Communications Inc., the nation’s second-largest telephone company, said Wednesday that it would offer a product to help Internet phone companies connect customers to 911 dispatchers.

The service will let providers of calling based on voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP, give customers the same 911 services available to subscribers of landline phone companies, San Antonio-based SBC said in a statement.

SBC joins Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. in offering access that may benefit companies such as Vonage Holdings Corp. and Comcast Corp. The service may encourage the spread of Internet-based calling by easing concerns that customers won’t be able to reach the police or fire department in an emergency.

SBC offered the product to Vonage two weeks ago and is waiting to hear whether the company will pay for it, SBC spokesman Michael Coe said. He declined to disclose the price of the service.

But Vonage spokeswoman Brooke Schulz said the product offered by SBC, like that of BellSouth, does not provide all the services her company seeks. Vonage wants services now available to wireless carriers, she said.

Vonage, which has more than 650,000 subscribers, faces lawsuits from Connecticut and Texas over the company’s ability to connect customers to 911 emergency dispatchers. Connecticut said Vonage didn’t properly disclose to customers that the calls might take longer, and Texas said marketing materials didn’t make it clear that users needed to sign up to make 911 calls route to local dispatchers.

The Federal Communications Commission may vote on 911 requirements for Internet-calling providers next week, Chairman Kevin J. Martin said last month.