VOIP Firms Must Offer 911 Access

Federal regulators Thursday ordered companies selling Internet-type phone service to guarantee that customers can connect to 911, responding to criticism and signaling that the technology is coming of age.

The four members of the Federal Communications Commission put on hold their hands-off approach to voice over Internet protocol technology, saying that life-threatening situations make 911 an essential part of all phone service.

Their vote followed testimony from three couples, including one whose infant died and another who were shot by intruders. They described their failed efforts to call for emergency help through the VOIP service they had with Vonage Holdings Corp.

“Anyone who dials 911 has a reasonable expectation that he or she will be connected to an emergency operator,” said FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin. “This expectation exists whether that person is dialing 911 from a traditional wire-line phone, a wireless phone or a VOIP phone.”

VOIP technology, which breaks conversations into digital packets and sends them like e-mail over high-speed lines, makes calls significantly cheaper. That, in turn, is luring customers at a brisk clip. About 4 million people nationwide now use VOIP, and that number is expected to grow to 17 million by 2008.

Some VOIP companies offer enhanced 911 service, which provides name, location and phone numbers to emergency dispatchers. But others offer limited service, routing calls to administrative offices open only during the day. Others offer no 911 service.

In addition, many cannot offer the service when customers take VOIP phones across the country or around the world, or when they use out-of-area numbers, which allows a Long Beach customer, say, to have a New York City phone number.

Under the FCC order, VOIP companies that are connected to the conventional phone network would have four months to offer enhanced 911 service in all situations. And the nation’s major land-line carriers that control the emergency calling system would have to make access to it available at reasonable prices.

Even before Thursday’s vote, Vonage felt the consequences. It is being sued by Texas and Connecticut over its alleged failure to provide proper notice about its 911 offering.

The FCC decision could raise the price of VOIP service. Some providers, like SunRocket Inc., have factored 911 calling into their prices; others like 8x8 Inc., which operates as Packet8, are charging $1 or $2 a month for the service.

Vonage, the nation’s largest VOIP company with 700,000 customers, expects to absorb the added cost, said spokeswoman Brooke Schulz.

The commission’s action was lauded by consumer groups and supported by VOIP companies and the nation’s four major regional network owners, including SBC Communications Inc., California’s dominant local phone company.

“This action is long overdue,” said Janee Briesemeister, senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. “We have long voiced concern that VOIP is marketed as a substitute phone service without being capable of, or required to provide, equivalent service.”

VOIP providers, welcoming access to the 911 network, also worry about the double-edged sword effect. Used to no oversight under former FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell, who pushed deregulation, the companies don’t want the new order to usher in an era of regulation.

“While it is important to protect consumers, it is equally important to enable nascent technologies that can change the telecom landscape to evolve without undue burden,” said Rich Tehrani, president of Technology Marketing Corp. of Norwalk, Conn., which focuses on Internet telephony.