New Senate Legislation Seeks to Level the 911 Playing Field

Critics of VoIP often point to safety concerns surrounding the availability of reliable 911 services for consumers of VoIP services. The FUD surrounding the 911 issue, which certainly has some merit, has been a rallying cry for those who would seek to slow the adoption of IP telephony.

It’s been hard to miss the widespread, mostly negative media coverage concerning VoIP and 911.

Back in 2005, the FTC passed legislation mandating that all VoIP providers offer enhanced (E911) services.

This new legislation is a mild victory for independent VoIP service providers, and a minor defeat for traditional telco operators such as Verizon and AT&T.

For some, the original FTC mandate created a business opportunity, and a host of E911 providers sprang up to help VoIP service providers meet the new compliance regulations. Amongst these are Dash 911, RedSky and e911ToGo.com.

Now that traditional telecom operators cannot impose measures to block VoIP service providers from accessing 911 networks, the business model created by the original e911 compliance mandate may no longer be viable.