New VoIP rules

Only authorized public telecommunications entities will be allowed to offer voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services specifically Internet telephony for compensation, according to the draft rules recently prepared by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

The proposed memorandum circular is expected though to raise opposition from Internet service providers (ISPs) which have been offering VoIP services, such as making international calls through a personal computer, for free.

NTC officials justified the decision to allow only PTEs to offer VoIP, saying PTEs have invested large amounts in infrastructure unlike other private entities. Among the PTEs that are now using the VoIP technology is leading telecommunications firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

Originally, the NTC intended the prohibition to be for a temporary period only such as five years, but under the draft rules, no time frame has been provided.

According to the draft MC, only duly enfranchised and authorized PTEs may offer VoIP for compensation subject to the limitations of their respective authorizations. Thus, local exchange carriers (LEC) may offer VoIP within their local exchange service area while interexchange carriers (IXC) may offer VoIP nationwide.

International gateway facilities (IGF) operators will be allowed to offer international VoIP. For a LEC to provide national and international VoIP, it has to have an agreement with the IXC and IGF respectively.

Duly authorized voice service providers need not apply for a separate authority nor register as provider of VoIP service.

Private entities other than PTEs can use VoIP for their private networks. They are, however, prohibited from offering VoIP to the public for compensation. Similarly, value-added service (VAS) providers are not allowed to offer VoIP to the public for fee.

Public calling offices and/or telecenter services operators registered may offer VoIP to the public for compensation subject to certain limitations.

VoIP, or voice delivered using the Internet protocol, is a term used in IP telephony for a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using the Internet protocol. In general, this means sending voice information in digital form in discrete packets rather than in the traditional circuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). VoIP is an organized effort to standardize IP telephony. IP telephony is an important part of the convergence of computers, telephones, and television into a single integrated information environment.

IP telephony is a general term for the technologies that use the Internet protocol’s packet-switched connections to exchange voice, fax, and other forms of information that have traditionally been carried over the dedicated circuit-switched connections of the PSTN.

Using the Internet, calls travel as packets of data on shared lines, avoiding the tolls of the PSTN. The challenge in IP telephony is to deliver the voice, fax, or video packets in a dependable flow to the user. Much of IP telephony focuses on that challenge.

IP telephony service providers thus include or soon will include local telephone companies, long distance providers, cable TV companies, ISPs, and fixed service wireless operators.

Currently, unlike traditional phone service, IP telephony service is relatively unregulated by governments worldwide. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates phone-to-phone connections, but says they do not plan to regulate connections between a phone user and an IP telephony service provider.

A major advantage of VoIP and Internet telephony is that it avoids the tolls charged by ordinary telephone service. The draft NTC circular, therefore, aims to make sure that ISPs will not be taking away income from the PTEs, although most PTEs are now the leading ISPs.

Customers of PTEs that will be using VoIP technology for telephony services generally will not notice whether the calls they are making are using the traditional copper lines or IP. Anyone who has tried making international calls through the computer knows that the quality is still very poor. But this will not be the case for PTEs, which have invested in bandwidth for faster and better Internet connection.

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