In the VoIP space, “developing country” is a put down phrase if a country regulates VoIP service providers in any shape or form. Panama, India and lately Costa Rica (“otherwise an oasis”) have been on the receiving end of this condemnation. Now comes a story that FCC may reject the forbearance application from Level 3 regarding access charges. Depending on how the order is written, it seems it could be disaster because the incumbents could sue many of the VoIP operators for retroactive charges. (This is a bit confusing because an FCC official, Robert Pepper said in VON that one of the myths on the industry is that VoIP service providers do not pay regulatory fees. Probably I misunderstood him.) It will be interesting to see how SkypeOut rates will be affected, because their rates are low not because of the technology but because of the regulatory arbitrage game played by the wholesalers.
Posted by aswath at March 18, 2005 08:44 AM