Vonage is continuing its fight against states trying to impose universal service fees against the VoIP provider and has sought relief from fees imposed by the Nebraska Public Service Commission in U.S. District Court. Vonage claims it is exempt from the payment which carriers are required to pay to states--in addition to their federal universal fee payments--to ensure a universal service is made available to poorer regional areas, schools and community organizations.
Vonage claims it is exempt from state regulation and is exclusively covered by federal regulatory jurisdiction, where they pay into a federal universal fund. Vonage and other VoIP operators have argued they provide a data-based information service and are exempt from state oversight. It cites a ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against the Minnesota Public Service Commission which also sought to regulate Vonage.
The Telco lobby deeply resents that non-traditional carriers do not have to pay the same state-based universal service fees, and have lobbied for either all voice providers to be forced to pay the same fees or for the fees to be dropped.
For More:
- Read the Associated Press story Article
[1]
Related articles:
Top VoIP regulatory trends for 2008 Report [2]
FCC levies service fees on VoIP operators Report [3]
Links:
[1] http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080125/internet_calls.html?.v=1
[2] http://www.fiercevoip.com/story/top-voip-regulatory-trends-2008/2008-01-07
[3] http://www.fiercevoip.com/story/fcc-levies-voip-fees-cable-operators/2007-08-09