VoIP-outs stir regulation agitation

Maryland regulators are investigating Verizon over 450 subscriber complaints, the Baltimore Sun reports--but there's not much they can do. The state's Public Service Commission is rattling sabers, but federal and state laws leave the PSC mostly toothless because the service at issue is VoIP.

The FCC has declared VoIP an interstate commerce service that can't be regulated by the states, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a bill that reinforces the hands-off position of the feds. The situation leaves the PSC in the middle, fielding a growing number of complaints about VoIP providers for which it has no recourse.

"The agency refers Comcast customers getting less-than-Comcastic service to Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler," writes the Sun's Jay Hancock, who ended up calling Comcast about a subscribers inability to get decent customer service. She ended up with four months of free VoIP from Comcast. Given the SunRocket splat followed by the Skype outage of '07, VoIP regs may not be far behind.

For More:
- Jay Hancock's story in the Baltimore Sun is here

Related article:
Comcast outages in N.J.