Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Vonage may get blocked, from signing up new customers.


A slashdot article lead me to the news that Vonage might be in trouble regarding e911 compliance.
Federal Communications Commission, FCC gave Vonage and other companies that sell Internet-based phone service 120 days to comply with its order requiring enhanced 911, or E911, in all their service areas. I have reported on this earlier. Click here to see all articles if you want to see the issues leading to the current situation.
From the article: "The company -- which has more than 1 million subscribers -- said it was capable of transmitting a call back number and location for 100 percent of its subscribers, but that it still was waiting for cooperation from competitors that control the 911 network." May be they want that free, SBC said earlier that if providers are willing to pay the service will be available from them.
The deadline to show the government where E911 is available was Monday. House and Senate lawmakers had urged FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to give companies more time and more tools to speed deployment, but no extension was granted.

In its compliance report to the FCC, Vonage said only 26 percent of its customer base had full E911 services. The company — which has more than 1 million subscribers — said it was capable of transmitting a call back number and location for 100 percent of its subscribers, but that it still was waiting for cooperation from competitors that control the 911 network.

AT&T declined to comment on its compliance levels before filing its report with the FCC. Calls to the company on Tuesday were not immediately returned. AT&T offers Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, to about 57,000 customers through its CallVantage service.

SunRocket, which has more than 50,000 subscribers nationwide, said it had equipped 96 percent of its customers with full 911 services.

The VON Coalition, an industry group, had estimated that overall about two-thirds of Internet phone users would have enhanced 911 by the deadline.

Citing public safety concerns, the FCC in May ordered companies selling Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, to ensure that callers can reach an emergency dispatcher when they dial 911. The dispatchers also must be able to tell where callers are located and the numbers from which they are calling.
Read more at Yahoo and /.

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