OTTAWA – The Commission’s decision on VOIP was not unanimous, but only a 5-2 decision in favor of maintaining regs on the incumbent telcos.
Commissioner Andree Noel and outgoing vice-chair broadcasting Andree Wylie both disagreed with the decision, saying that voice over Internet protocol is not just another way to make a phone call, but something fundamentally different.
“It is my view however that, in this case, the Commission failed, in its decision not to forbear from imposing tariffs for the provision of local VOIP service by the ILECs, to give sufficient consideration… to the specific functional and service attributes of VOIP service, compared to those of PES (primary exchange service), and to the particular circumstances and the competitive dynamic surrounding the introduction of VOIP service in Canada,” writes Wylie.
Noel goes oddly further, saying VOIP is not, actually a telephone service. “(F)or cultural reasons, voice over IP uses the North American Numbering Plan rather than e-mail addresses, for example, to transmit bytes from point A to point B does not make this service a telephone service. It is still an Internet service, and one of its functionalities makes it possible to digitize and transmit synthetized (sic) voice via data packets. In my opinion, this constitutes a retail Internet service, and it should not be regulated,” said Noel in her dissent.
“Both at the hearing and in their written interventions, several interveners raised other deficiencies with voice over IP, particularly in terms of security and emergency services,” writes Noel. “Although in Telecom Decision 2005-21, the Commission required voice over IP service providers to implement interim solutions for offering services comparable to 9-1-1 and E9-1-1 within 90 days of the decision, I think it is an illusion to believe, particularly in the case of nomadic service, that valid solutions can be found in such a short time.
“In this respect as well, voice over IP is not a substitute for primary exchange service. It is like comparing a bicycle with a car: both have wheels and can take us from point A to point B, but the comparison ends there.”
– Greg O’Brien
