October 20, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:52 a.m. ET

BOSTON (AP) -- FCC Chairman Michael Powell said Tuesday
that he would seek broad regulatory authority for the
federal government over Internet-based telephone services
to avoid stifling the emerging market.

Powell told a receptive audience at an industry conference
that letting states regulate Voice over Internet
Protocol,or VoIP, services would lead to a patchwork of conflicting rules
like those which have ensnarled the traditional phone business for decades.

To do so, Powell said, ``is to dumb down the Internet back
to the limited vision of government officials. That would
be a tragedy.''

After his speech, Powell told reporters he expected to introduce a proposal
to the full Federal Communications Commission in less than a month, and
definitely before a new Congress begins its session in January.

``We cannot avoid this question any longer,'' he said. ``It
is very likely that treatment of VOIP will have some of the farthest
reaching consequences of anything this commission has done or will do.''

Powell, whose office has been petitioned by Republican
members of Congress to take action on the jurisdiction question, spoke two
weeks before a presidential election that could jeopardize his position as
FCC chairman.

The Republican was appointed to the commission by President Clinton in 1997
and became chairman when President Bush took office in 2001.

Powell cited a study by a research firm, The Yankee Group,
that projects 1 million VoIP subscribers nationwide by
year's end, compared with just 131,000 last year.

The technology ``has ignited a fire under a stalled and depressed
industry,'' Powell said, referring to traditional landline phone carriers.

Powell, who reiterated his belief in minimal regulation of
VoIP services, said questions of its taxation and
connectivity to 911 emergency assistance are best left to
the federal government because the technology erodes
geographic barriers.

Such barriers have led to a complex framework of
regulations governing local and long-distance service for traditional
landline phones.

While some issues involving voice quality and consumer accessibility remain
to be worked out, VoIP service threatens to eventually overtake landline
services by piggybacking on the existing, low-cost technology platform used
for the Internet.

``There is no need to organize a regulatory regime around permits and prices
and costs as we have done for nearly a century with common carriers,''
Powell added.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Powell-Voice-over-Net.html?ex=1099284228&ei=1&en=9f8cb218766b87a9