British ISPs chafe at Ofcom rules

You read last issue about how the U.K.'s Ofcom regulators finally published their rules for VoIP providers. Now comes the backlash. Britain's ITSPA (Internet Telephony Services Provider Association) is concerned that the Ofcom rules will subject VoIP to more regulation than any other telecom technology, that the new rules will be hard to enforce against international players, and that (as a result) the regulations will put British operators at a competitive disadvantage. The Ofcom rules essentially require that VoIP operators tell customers whether they have access to emergency services, if their phone service is at the mercy of home power supply, whether directory assistance or operator services are available, and whether their VoIP phone numbers will be portable.

For more about the ITSPA position:
- read this article from PublicTechnology.net

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