Taxing VoIP to Prop Up Dying PSTN Services

It's no secret that VoIP services have begun to seriously eat into the profits of telecom companies. What started off as a small nibble by a few select geeks is turning into a full fledged movement across the US. Of course that's kind of the point - to cut the telcos out of the loop completely. The rules that govern the PSTN system are old. For example, they're required to pay into a fund meant to subsidize telephone connections to out of the way places where it wouldn't normally be feasible to provide connections.VoIP companies have so far been exempt from these rules because they're not classified as telecommunication services. Instead, they're merely an extension of the Internet. Levying a tax on VoIP would be like levying a tax on email merely because it allows communication like the postal service. Unfortunately, several law makers (prodded on heavily by the telcos themselves) don't see it that way. A short while ago, California was the first state to impose a tax on VoIP services which interconnect to the PSTN systems which will go towards supporting telephone services for out of the way places.
But this is legislation that pushes the wrong way. The idea should be to make the PSTN system more like VoIP and not make VoIP more like the traditional telcos. Google's Erik Schmidt had much the same idea when asked to comment about his views regarding termination fees for VoIP. Instead of making VoIP like the PSTN system, it needs to be the other way around.
The FCC hasn't really been of much help here and are making the same mistakes. We need to get rid of this distinction between communication and other types of services and focus on the technology being used regardless of what that use is. The Internet is a monolithic technology that I can use for email, gaming, watching videos, socializing and VoIP. To single out VoIP traffic and apply special rules to it because it serves a specific need is arbitrary and illogical.
The time has come for us to rethink the way we want to lead the industry forward in terms of legislation. Telecom has been so heavily regulated as to entirely preclude new and innovative technologies from gaining a stronghold. VoIP is coming along just fine and it has a chance if not shackled by arbitrary rules and regulations which were imposed in a bygone era.
Bhagwad is an expert consultant on Hosted VoIP SIP Provider. He also specializes in Hosted Business VoIP Reviews.

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