ALSO NOTED: U.S. Treasury to stop collecting federal excise tax; IMS can be great equalizer for service integration; and much m

> The National Science Foundation issued four awards totaling $600,000 to the University of North Texas to develop a geographically distributed, secure test bed analyzing VoIP vulnerabilities. Article

> The Philippine National Telecommunications Commission sees waning opposition to its VoIP guidelines. Article

> While U.K.-based Carphone Warehouse offers Talk Talk for cheap, potential customers should consider factors such as connection speeds, customer service and contract lengths. Article

> The U.S. Treasury Department plans to stop collecting the federal excise tax on long-distance and wireless phone service and will refund $60 billion to consumers and businesses. Article

> Many businesses may not see enough payback to build out the infrastructure required for voice over WiFi and dual-mode handsets. Article

> The EU should soon require communication providers to retain tracking data for six to 24 months for services such as SMS, email, VoIP and Internet access. Blog

And Finally… "If IP was the great normalizer, IMS can be the great equalizer for service integration," said Nortel VP and GM for global cable solutions Tom Buttermore at the National Cable & Telecommunications Show last week. Article