MyVoIPnews

Argyll and Bute, virtually

Britannia’s technological push into the 21st century continues, with Argyll and Bute Council announcing the creation of a “virtual Customer Service Centre function” enabling advisors to work from offices distributed throughout the mainland and islands.

The process of technology-enabling the new centre started in February 2007. The Lagan Frontline software was installed and fully integrated with the Council’s Northgate Council Tax system and Civica Workflow and Electronic Document Management software by April 2007. The installation of the Council’s Cisco IP infrastructure followed, with the Macfarlane CallPlus contact centre integrated shortly thereafter.

The customer service centre is powered by a Macfarlane CallPlus VoIP solution embedded within a Cisco IP infrastructure. At Argyll and Bute, CallPlus is also tightly integrated with Lagan Frontline CRM software.

The virtual customer service centre actually went live last month; in the initial phase of deployment, council tax queries are being handled at a single centre in lovely Campbeltown. A team of four council tax advisors are currently handling around 700-800 customer calls a week.

Current plans call for deployment of the system and multiple sites and “Within months, the operation is likely to be many times bigger,” promises the council. The Council is planning to move benefits; street lighting and roads; leisure bookings; and its library catalogue into the customer service centre by December 2007.

In 2008, the Council is looking to bring planning department and other services into the centre in a rolling programme that hopes to refocus all customer-facing services into a service centre delivery model.

The Argyll and Bute councilship was formed in 1996 and comprises much of Scotland’s coastline. In fact, Argyll and Bute claims some 3,000 miles of coastline, just slightly more than all of that of France.

Founded in 1987, Macfarlane is a UK developer and supplier of communication solutions to service providers, enterprises and public sector organisations. Its CallPlus platform supports applications including a multimedia contact centre, IVR, management statistics, recording and unified communications. Macfarlane boasts strategic partnerships with vendors Lagan, Capita, Northgate, Steria and Serco.

Homegrown VoIP for Nepal

Indian joint venture United Telecom Ltd, the first private operator in Nepal’s telecom sector, will now begin voice over internet protocol service. After green lighted by Nepal Telecom Authority late last week, the joint venture UTL began a feasibility study to identify the partners and phone routes it can ally with overseas to offer the new technology to its subscribers in Nepal. Joint venture interests within UTL include India’s MTNL, VSNL and Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd and Nepali partner Nepal Venture Pvt Ltd. UTL will be investing some NRs 150 million (approximately $2 million) to implement the new technology. The decision is reportedly in response to the estimated NRs 8 billion lost annually in illegal telecom services and “cyber cafes mushrooming all over Nepal.” It is also seen be some “as a placatory offer after NTA made a discriminatory gesture earlier this month” in that “Though UTL and Nepal Telecom have identical licences to offer phone services based on the wave technology employed by cellular phones, NTA this month allowed the Nepali company to offer full mobility while UTL has been given only limited mobility.”

No VoIP for you, G.I. Joe

American troops stationed in South Korea will probably be seeing at least a temporary yet serious increase in their international phone bills, according to the US Department of Defense.

The DoD stated in Thursday’s daily newspaper Stars & Stripes that Thursday would be the last day US militia in South Korea could make voice over Internet Protocol calls through US-based companies. As of Friday, new contracts must be negotiated for South Korea-based VoIP solutions.

South Korea’s major internet service providers joined to state in June 2006 that VoIP calls going through companies not registered under the Korean Telecommunications Business Act would be blocked. Thanks to a little diplomatic maneuvering, the South Korean companies delayed the move until June 1.

Companies currently registered to provide VoIP solutions in Korea include Korea Telecom Corp., Hanaro Telecom Inc. and LG Dacom Corp.

FCC rules on VoIP thrice

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has again spoken on VoIP in a few arenas this week.

On Thursday, the FCC declared it would be tightening standards regarding emergency 911 services. Primarily targeting the more traditional forms of wireless provider, i.e. cell phone pushers but VoIP and other telecom forms will most likely be included in any mix.

FCC commissioners voted to consider proposals to strengthen standards for wireless carriers to meet for the 911 function. According to the Reuters report on the story, current standards call for “wireless carriers using some E911 systems must be able to determine a caller’s location within 100 meters for 67 percent of the calls and 300 meters for 95 percent of the calls. Other systems are required to determine location within 50 meters for 67 percent of calls and 150 meters for 95 percent of the calls.”

That’s a bit lenient, don’t you think?

A bit more time will pass in order for firms to adapt, as the FCC will carry out the inevitable additional studies and consulting, etc., before new standards are released.

On Friday, surely to no one’s surprise, Vonage again lost in a federal court. This time, it was the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia turning down VoIP solution provider Vonage Holdings Group’s challenge of “The Federal Communications Commission rule.”

The rule requires telecommunications companies to contribute to a fund supporting service for schools, libraries and rural and low-income households. Vonage had argued that the amount the FCC was charging Vonage for its mandatory contribution was too high.

Though the court ruled in Vonage’s favor on two points, it was little more than a pyrrhic victory for the troubled business. VoIP providers were ruled to fall under the auspices of the Federal Communications Commission rule last year.

Unfortunately, as of this writing, the Vonagers have yet to release a statement on the judgment; can’t wait to see how they spin it…

Finally, the FCC adopted the report and order entitled “Disability Access Requirements Extended To VoIP Services” at its monthly open meeting. Sort of a spiritual follow-up to the Federal Communications Commission rule, the FCC Order states that VoIP solution/service providers must meet similar requirements for providing access to people with disabilities that landline and wireless providers currently meet.

The order extends the accessibility and usability requirements of Section 255 of the Communications Act to VoIP service providers, which requires VoIP providers to contribute into the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services Fund. It also requires VoIP service providers to meet the same TRS obligations that traditional phone companies must meet, such as connecting relay service users via 711, the nation’s free access number to reach a relay service center.

“Why should I have to ask someone to place a phone call for me just because some company forgot to design phone services with my needs in mind?” rhetorically asks Mark Richert of the American Foundation for the Blind. “And, if we can’t get our telephone bills in Braille, how do they expect us to pay them?”

It’s a good point, eh?

VoIP for Suffolk

NHS services in Suffolk have announced their setting up of a new VoIP system to “improve communications between more than 200 hospitals, clinics and general practices.”

Using a unified communications system provided by Cisilion and traveling over the health service's N3 national broadband network, the scheme was deployed jointly by Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Suffolk Primary Care Trust.

The system had been in development since late 2005, and allows doctors, nurses and child health visitors to access each other via a direct dial number.

Pentagonal extension

In one of the least shocking developments of the VoIP universe this week, General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics, was awarded a contract modification by the US Army Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems.

More interestingly, the ol’ cash cow will be designing and installing a VoIP solution for the Pentagon, upgrading audiovisual systems and providing security equipment. The modification, including the VoIP solution, has a potential value of $18.4 million over three years. The contract was originally awarded in June 2002.

A carrier-grade multifunction VoIP switching platform will be implemented for the Pentagon that includes all call processing support, multiple classes of service, priority service, required adjunct components, back-office components (gee, does the Pentagon have a front office?), and continued support for legacy telephony equipment.

General Dynamics Information Technology was initially awarded the first “Pentagon Renovation” contract in August 1998. General Dynamics was awarded an additional contract in June 2002, and since then, the company has received 100 percent of all available award fees during nineteen evaluation periods.

Texas VoIP 911 coverage nearly complete

The government of the state of Texas has announced that the majority of the state’s emergency call centers now receive 911 calls from customers whose telephone service relies upon Voice over Internet Protocol technology.

In a recently released report, the Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications (CSEC) provided a status of statewide efforts to provide 911 service to VoIP telephone subscribers. Texas has deployed VoIP 911 service in the majority of the state’s 544 answering points. Texas 911 entities formed a working group with industry to expedite deployment in response to the FCC’s order.

According to Paul Mallett, Executive Director of CSEC, the purpose of the group was to document the impact of VoIP telephony on 911 in Texas and to explore potential solutions to identified problems, and “Our agency continues to facilitate and monitor VoIP 911 deployment in Texas to ensure that VoIP customers have access to 911 and emergency services.”

CSEC is a state agency charged by the Texas Legislature with overseeing 911 services in 224 of Texas’ 254 counties. CSEC, in cooperation with the Texas Department of State Health Services, also oversees the Texas Poison Control Network that serves all Texas counties.

The “C” in C(Cubed) stands for “Cedar Point”

Cedar Point Communications, Inc., supplier of VoIP switching technologies for service provider and enterprise telecommunications, today announced the first trial and evaluation of its SAFARI C(Cubed) Multimedia Switching System in the government sector, scoring the oldest national laboratory in the U.S., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in good ol’ Berkeley, Calif.

Berkeley Lab will test the capabilities of SAFARI C(Cubed) to support the current communications needs of researchers and staff on the lab's 200-acre campus. In addition, Cedar Point and Berkeley Lab will collaborate to research advanced applications for VoIP services.

Now over seventy years old, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory remains a leader in science and engineering research. Berkeley Lab is also the oldest of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Laboratories. The Lab is managed by the University of California and has an annual budget of more than $500 million and a staff of about 3,800 employees, including more than 500 students.

IP legislation in the works

On The Hill, the relevant news item of the week was the Senate Commerce Committee’s new legislation to extend liability and other provisions of the 1999 wireless enhanced 911 act to Internet Protocol voice communications.

The measure would grant IP-enabled voice providers right of access to essential 911 components comparable to the rights of access accorded mobile phone carriers and would also clarify the right of states and localities to impose 911 fees on IP-enabled voice services providers for use of E911, or other public safety purposes.

The legislation would direct the E911 Implementation Coordination Office to develop and report to Congress on a national plan for migrating to an IP-enabled emergency network within 180 days of the bill’s enactment.

“When it comes to public safety and services like E911, we must always strive to do better,” said Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who old-school politics junkies may remember from the Iran-Contra Investigation days or even the times of the Senate Watergate Committee (now, that’s old school).

“When lives are on the line, first responders need location information that is as accurate as possible. The IP-Enabled Voice Communications and Public Safety Act would ensure that first responders receive accurate information, which would, without a doubt, save lives.”

You mean i can’t call 911 in the U.K.?

Ofcom announced a new regulatory code for Voice over Internet Protocol service providers this week to “ensure that consumers have access to important information about the capabilities of their service.”

(You know all about the VoIP 911 situation in the US, right? Well, this is Britain’s version…)

All VoIP providers will be required to comply with this code as of June 2007. The new code of practice requires VoIP providers to clarify:

• whether the service includes access to emergency services;

• the extent to which the service depends on the user’s home power supply;

• whether directory assistance, directory listings, access to the operator or itemization of calls are available; and

• whether consumers will be able to keep their telephone number if they choose to switch providers at a later date.

Furthermore, VoIP providers must:

• secure the customer’s positive acknowledgement of the above at point of sale;

• label the capability of the service; and

• play an announcement each time a call to emergency services is attempted, reminding the caller that access is unavailable.

Vonage loses again, refuses to say “uncle”

After winning one just the other day, Vonage got beat down by Verizon in court again in the VoIP providers’ battle over alleged copyright infringement.

On Friday, the verdict the gavel came down on Verizon’s side one more time as a U.S. district court ordered a permanent injunction against poor ol’ Vonage for use of rival Verizon Communications Inc.’s patents.

This hearing was the legal offspring of an in-court tussle earlier this month in which judges ruled that Vonage Holdings is to pay $58 million plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future sales. Vonage had been suing for $197 million and a 19 percent in royalties.

However, Friday’s ruling carried an accompanying statement by U.S. district judge Claude Hilton explaining that “[Simply providing monetary damages] does not prevent continued erosion of the client base of the plaintiff.”

The injunction does not go into effect for at least two weeks, a time period in which Vonage will presumably be attempting to figure out a) how to avoid having to cut service to the two million-plus extant Vonage customers, b) more ways to appeal in court, thereby staying financial execution, or c) both of the above.

Watching Vonage spokespeople and PR on this thing has been an excellent study in spinning news events. In the last case, Vonage reported that the company was “delighted that the jury rejected Verizon’s meritless claim that we infringed their two billing patents. Of the seven patents Verizon originally sued on, (sic) they prevailed on only three and we expect that verdict to be reversed on appeal. The jury’s damage award represents a 70% reduction from Verizon’s $197 million claim. The jury also unanimously rejected Verizon’s claim that Vonage willfully infringed its patents.”

Of course, that time ‘round, Vonage also promised that “Vonage’s customers should see no change to any aspect of their phone service.”

Well, Vonage plucky planners, PR people and spin doctors are hard at work on this one. Vonage opened with the news that the Alexandria, Va. district court had released an order “enjoining Vonage from using certain VoIP technology,” that the order is not immediately effective, and that “Vonage is confident its customers will see no change in their phone service.”

(Note the grammar shift from “should” to “will” as the situation worsens…)

Explains Vonage of upcoming proceedings: “The court announced its intent to hear stay argument in two weeks’ time. At that time, the court intends to render a decision regarding the stay, as well as making the injunction effective. If the court denies the stay, Vonage will seek a stay through appeal from the Federal Court of Appeals. Vonage is confident it will be able to obtain a stay through appeal.”

Vonage CEO Mike Snyder stated that “Despite this obvious attempt by Verizon to cripple Vonage, the litigation will not stop Vonage from continuing to provide quality VoIP service to our millions of customers.” He also promised that “Our fight is far from over. We remain confident that Vonage has not infringed on any of Verizon's patents – a position we will continue vigorously contending in federal appeals court – and that Vonage will ultimately prevail in this case.”

Recently oft-quoted Sharon O’Leary, Vonage’s executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary actually claimed that “Vonage relied on open-standard, off-the-shelf technology when developing its service. In fact, evidence introduced in court failed to prove that Vonage relied on Verizon’s VoIP technology, and instead showed that in 2003 Verizon began exploring ways to copy Vonage’s technology.”

Company numbers also show that Vonage has achieved 19 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth, doubled revenues to $607 million in 2006 alone, and added nearly 1 million net subscriber lines last year. However, another number is far more damning (as though Vonage needed things to get worse): The week closed with Vonage Holdings Corp. shares dropping 26 percent to close at $3 on the New York Stock Exchange, unbelievably a 52-week low.

A courtside win for Vonage

The big news today in VoIPland was of the the 8th Circuit Court’s ruling regarding states’ rights in regulating VoIP, upholding a 2004 decision in a court case involving the state of Minnesota and Vonage. Yesterday, the court restated that companies such as Vonage are outside state control and can only be regulated at the federal level.

The decision had VoIP providers in general, and Vonage in particular breathing sighs of relief.

Staci Pies, VON Coalition President, issued a statement on behalf of her coalition (see a member list below) predictably praising the court, which “recognized that the FCC properly embraced the future of VoIP by ensuring it will be free from multiple and inevitably conflicting state jurisdictions. … This decision holds open the promise that VoIP can play a critical role in boosting broadband demand and putting new tools in the hands of American consumers and small businesses... The Court’s decision is a critical step towards unleashing the full economic benefits of VoIP competition…”

Vonage, meanwhile, has got to be happy that a federal court let them win this one after two weeks ago getting dissed in a ruling that will have Vonage Holdings pay $58 million plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future sales due to copyright infringement on Verizon product.

The VON Coalition consists of leading VoIP companies including AccessLine, AT&T, BMX, BT Americas, CallSmart, Cisco, Convedia, Covad, EarthLink, Google, iBasis, i3 Voice and Data, Intel, Intrado, Microsoft, New Global Telecom, Openwave, Pandora Networks, PointOne, Pulver.com, Skype, Switch Business Solutions, T-Mobile USA, United Online, USA Datanet, VocalData, Veraz Networks, and Yahoo!, and seeks to “advance regulatory policies that enable Americans to take advantage of the full promise and potential of VoIP.”

BT in on VoIP

British Telecommunications plc, more commonly and concisely known as “BT,” closed out its week with the announcement of a launch of a global service that will enable Internet service providers, cable providers and like resellers to deliver flexible voice over IP-based services to subscribers.

The new offering is targeted at global communication providers outside of the UK; the plug for prospective clients (presumably the former members of that great British Empire) is the promise that one may enter the market “to become a communication provider overnight, without the cost and complexity of having to invest in expensive IT and network infrastructure.”

Using a fully redundant globally distributed IP network and a single web-based interface, BT's IP Voice Managed Service promises advanced multi-layered security, including session border controller functionality and VoIP firewall capabilities. BT IP Voice Managed Service is currently available through BT Global Services.

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries, with principal activities in networked IT services; local, national and international telecommunications services; and broadband and internet products and services. In the year ended March 31, 2006, BT Group plc revenue was 19.514 billion pounds Sterling (approximately $37.892 billion).

Time Warner gets OK from FCC

Score one for Time Warner Cable and other internet telephony wholesalers: The Federal Communications Commission, in the matter of Time Warner Cable Request for Declaratory Ruling that Competitive Local Exchange Carriers May Obtain Interconnection Under Section 251 of the Communications Act of 1934, as Amended, to Provide Wholesale Telecommunications Services to VoIP Providers, a.k.a. WC Docket No. 06-55 (and you wonder why federal court decisions take so long), declared that the Nebraska and South Carolina state regulations boards misinterpreted extant federal law in preventing Time Warner from introducing VoIP service in those states.

Information Week online quoted FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin as describing the decision in most positive terms: “By increasing competition in the telephone sector, this action encourages the deployment of broadband facilities and ensures that consumers in all areas of the country reap the benefits of competition in the form of lower prices, innovative services and more choice.”

Exactly one year before the final decision – March 1, 2006 – Time Warner Cable requested the FCC to “declare that wholesale telecommunications carriers are entitled to interconnect and exchange traffic with incumbent local exchange carriers when providing services to other service providers.”

Trade associations argued to the FCC that finding in favor of Time Warner Cable would create an “unequal regulatory structure” in which VoIP providers have an unfair advantage over telecoms, but VoIP industry voices pretty much unanimously applauded the ruling.

Read one opinion over at the classic Geek.com: “The great thing about this order is that it clears up any confusion regarding whether VoIP services are also protected in the Communication Act of 1934. It also paves the way for VoIP services to deploy their services faster without all the red tape. The FCC, after all, has the final say when it comes to interpreting how the Communications Act of 1934 applies here.”

Meanwhile, Broadcast Engineering wrote that “The decision breaks down of one of the last barriers preventing VoIP to fully compete with traditional phone carriers.” ZDNet had VON Coalition stating the ruling was “broadly beneficial to the entire VoIP industry.”

And as far as Australia did industry press record news of the verdict, with Oz’ VoIP News stating that “The decision is seen as a glimmer of hope to Net neutrality advocates as the ruling seems to deny a carrier's right to discriminate by blocking only certain types of traffic - in this instance VoIP traffic.”

Like it or not, VoIP has again become a stronger force in America. More traditional telecoms, it seems, can only hope the future moves a bit more slowly.

Talkin’ VoIP in Missouri

This week in Missouri, there’s lively debate (well, as lively as things get in Missouri) regarding telecom regulation. The Missouri legislature is bearing witness to the state’s public service commission and its proposed regulations for VoIP technology.

Dallas, Texas-based Institute for Policy Innovation, meanwhile, has come out against the Missouri Public Service Commission, claiming “The Commission is also splitting hairs to draw distinctions among providers – aiming to put different, heavier regulation on the facilities-based IP voice technology such as that offered by network owners, than on VoIP offered by nonfacilities-based providers such as Vonage.”

The Institute for Policy Innovation is a think tank with offices in Dallas and Washington, DC. IPI experts have testified before state legislatures across the country on “the vital importance of free-market policies in the telecom sector.”

Claim IPI researchers, “Missouri is bucking a national trend to encourage investment and innovation in new technologies.”

Earlier this month, J. Scott Christianson of the hometown Columbia Daily Tribune (which is cited here thanks to an assist from BroadbandReports.com) surely correctly opined that the telecom bill “has something in it for every large telecommunications company: reducing public oversight, eliminating local control, cherry-picking high-profit customers and protection from prying public auditors. It would be wonderful - if it weren’t such a complete betrayal of the public trust…”

Karl (really?) of BroadbandReports.com kicks in: “broadband on a stick,” a.k.a. “support our policies or we won’t deploy,” has long been an effective lobbying tactic.”

Word.

On encryption in Iraq

While George W. Bush and his cohorts take flak for Iraq, Blue Ridge Networks is ready for some praise, as representatives today announced the success of its high-assurance devices in building strong authentication and encryption into the world's largest secure VoIP network: the satellite-based Iraq Command and Control Network (IC2N), now under the auspices of the Iraq Ministry of the Interior after its creation by US minds.

A ceremony held in Iraq last week transferred authority over the IC2N from its US-based developers to the Iraqi ministry, as announced by The Civilian Police Assistance Training Team.

The world's largest fully meshed secure VoIP network, the IC2N project was begun in November 2004 with the objective of connecting the major cities of Iraq with a private communications system, specifically in relation to the 2005 elections.

Killeen, Texas-based Systems integrator Proactive Communications, Inc. will continue to lead the US-based team that includes Blue Ridge Networks; Loral Skynet; PingTone Communications; and iDirect in working technical and logistical needs.

The disenfranchised in the Bangladesh VoIP wars

For those following the events regarding illegal VoIP provision in Bangladesh, it reads like an action movie. The cat-and-mouse tactics of law enforcement teams and well-connected criminals, the possibility of a big-money foreign interest, government corruption, and even a charismatic celebrity heavy all give the Bangladesh VoIP wars something of a fantastical air.

However, while the government sets down to busy work, busting criminal after criminal in hopes of preventing further government losses (Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, “the lone legitimate organization approved by the government for call termination and call origination abroad,” has reportedly been deprived of some 500 million Taka – approximately $7.23 million – in past five years), some citizens of Bangladesh are expressing a unique concern.

Last week, the Drishtipat Group Blog ran a post entitled “We are disconnected – Please Raise Your Voice” written by one Rumi, imploring the Bangladesh government to think of those affected when illegal VoIP services are cut.

Rumi is an expatriated Bangladeshi who writes that “While I and all my siblings are living outside Bangladesh, my elderly parents live in Bangladesh. Daily phone calls from me and my siblings used to keep them going with their lonely life. …There are hundreds of thousands of non-resident Bangladeshi and as a consequence, in a situation similar to us, there are thousands of lonely elderly parents who are emotionally dependent on overseas calls from their children.”

Rumi notes that he personally knows many others in the same boat, calling the loss of international communication in and out of Bangladesh “the result of current law enforcement offensive on illegal VoIP business.”

The blogger brings up that point that, though illegal, the black-market VoIP was serving millions of Bangladesh. “Rather than totally destroying the industry,” proposes Rumi, “could not the government take steps in bringing the VoIP service under tax blanket?”

Further questions and complaints follow: “…how much [will the nation] benefit with a revenue-fat BTTB? What has BTTB given us since independence? It takes nearly a lifetime to get a land line connection. It is absolutely impossible to get a service from BTTB without bribes or phone calls from powerful people. Bribery by BTTB linemen has taken the form of extortions.”

The blog entry was sent as a letter to Bangladesh’s Daily Star, a day-to-day follower of the Rapid Action Battalion’s moves in cracking down on the illegal VoIP providers.

To prove Rumi is not alone in his position, Bangladeshi blogger Salam Dhaka comments on the issue on his ‘page (reads the blog tagline: “This is mostly about Bangladesh. I am just a concerned citizen, that’s all.”) in “The disconnected NRB.” “NRB” refers to an expatriated Bangladesh citizen.

Dhaka has a friend of his stating that “I have not been able to talk to my baby and wife for a few days now, I am used to talking to them twice a day” via VoIP service. Writes Dhaka: “We, the NRB's, are completely shut off from Bangladesh. What if someone has a little daughter who is sick at home? What if someone has parents that are facing a medical emergency? What about the business community?”

Dhaka is critical of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-ruled government that has held power since 2001 and also served as majority party 1991-1996 amid untold charges of corruption in a myriad of areas. The sitting government “seem[s] to be getting into a habit of hurting the masses. We saw it in the hawker eviction, then the slum eviction and now NRB ‘disconnection.’”

Recently in My VoIP News, this writer referred to alleged VoIP ringleader Halal Khan as a “high-tech Al Capone.” The metaphor still stands even beyond charges of tax evasion also currently levied against Khan. Like the bootlegger in the times of prohibition, Khan is giving the people what the government has made illegal and what they want.

911 for 94 percent

Vonage America Inc., subsidiary of VoIP powerhouse Vonage Holdings Corp., is keeping the press (and probably that sometimes pesky FCC) informed about their continuing mandated mission to cover all its subscriber lines with the Vonage Enhanced 911 service.

Today, representatives of the firm announced a coverage rate of 94 percent and the total number of lines fitted for Enhanced 911 at over 2 million.

Vonage’s nomadic Enhanced 911 solution promises customers the ability to reach a 911 center through the dedicated 911 network infrastructure, automatically routing calls to the appropriate 911 center with the caller’s registered street address and telephone number appearing on the dispatcher’s screen.

Vonage PR also reported that since December 15, the company has equipped some fifty locally-run emergency call centers across the U.S. with Enhanced 911, bringing the total number of calling centers with emergency 911 service to over 6,600.

VoIP cops busy in Bangladesh

Over in Bangladesh, it was a wild and wacky week in VoIP, five action-packed workdays that came to more resemble an episode of “Cops” than your typical VoIP news of product releases and partnerships. Following runs a breakdown of police crackdowns on illegal VoIP operations that regional industry news.

Tuesday, January 23. Bangladesh government officials issued a strong warning against clandestine overseas phoning through Voice over Internet Protocol. An official statement tersely announced that “Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board is the lone legitimate organization approved by the government for call termination and call origination abroad.”

Along with this none-too-friendly reminder, the government warning also stated that “illegal call termination and call origination contravenes the law and is a punishable offense.” From December 26 to this date, Bangladesh law enforcement had seized equipment from and closed some seven unauthorized VoIP suppliers; the new declaration of the 23rd would inspire another round of shutdowns.

Wednesday, January 24. The special law enforcement team known as the “Rapid Action Battalion” reported raids on five phone service centers suspected of plying the illegal VoIP trade in the cities of Mirpur and Chittagong. In not quite “Cops” fashion, reportage from The Daily Star online edition noted that the RAB “could not arrest anyone during the raids as the corrupt businessmen fled away sensing the presence of the elite force members.”

According to The Star, the raids in Chittagong “were conducted after a tip-off that some people are operating VoIP equipment to illegally divert calls abroad by call origination and termination using BTTB phones and mobile SIM (subscriber identity module) cards in the areas.”

In the most recent raids, the RAB confiscated a “huge quantity of receivers, cables, circuits and integrated circuits,” with a total value of “several hundred crore taka” according to RAB figures. One crore taka, or ten million taka, is worth approximately $145,000.

Thursday, January 25. Thursday night, a RAB intelligence unit raided the third floor of a four-storey building at Badda in the capital to snag VoIP equipment worth over 3 crore taka (approximately $434,000). Again, the “bad boys” evaded police, but the RAB are now seeking Mohammad Hasan and Azharul Islam Manik, accused of running “the unscrupulous telephone business.”

Writers at the Daily Star, no doubt pleased as punch to have landed such a fruitful continuing new story, quoted a member of the RAB team involved in the operation as totalling seized equipment at “18 pieces of quantum gateway equipment, 210 tellular devices, 10 UPS and two generators.”

Friday, January 26. The RAB were at it again, closing another illegal VoIP outlet in Jigatala. Raiding the home of a private individual, reported in the media as one Rafiqual Islam alias Babul, the wee-hours bust was also the result of a tip-off. The arrest resulted in confiscation of some 15 lakh taka (approximately $21,700) in VoIP equipment: Reportedly, 65 tellular devices, 62 mobile SIM cards, one computer monitor, its CPU and 65 adapters were seized.

The figure at least one local source calls the “ring leader” in Bangladesh's pirate VoIP industry is a guy named Helal Khan, a real Genghis for the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board.

Khan, who has his own website advertising his cinematic career featuring starring roles in some thirteen films since 1999 (including the big deal Hason Raja), also serves as the International Affairs Secretary of the cultural wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The BNP is currently the majority-ruling party in the country.

Apparently, in his spare time, Khan runs operations involving illegal VoIP operations, operations which have deprived BTTB of some “500 million Taka [approximately $7.23 million] in past five years of BNP rule simply by operating illegal calling card business from his Bangla Motor station. According to sources, Khan is also continuing to operate at least five more illegal telephone exchanges … through members of his gang. One Swajan Chowdhury is the main aide of Helal in these illegal activities, who manages to escape the law enforcing agencies...”

According to the Bangladesh Board of Revenue, Khan is under investigation for tax evasion. Khan’s business Central Music and Video Limited is charged with having sold CDs and cassettes for “several” years while not paying VAT taxes in the amount of 180 million taka (approximately $2.46 million) or so, further cementing his reputation as Bangladesh’s high-tech Al Capone.

Khan “and his men” have managed to avoid the recent police activity vis-à-vis VoIP, having “secretly removed all equipment and property of the company from its Purana Paltan premises and even recently removed the sign board of the company while plac[ing] the sign board of Hask Films, which is another company of Helal Khan.”

And as the “Weekly Blitz” reports, Khan has another resource at his disposal even more powerful than movie-star popularity, political influence and a bunch of tax-free cash: It seems Khan has “managed to become a US citizen, and it is believed that, he might leave the country at any time to avoid legal consequences.”

Meanwhile, as a backdrop to the illegal VoIP activity in Bangladesh, a slightly more above-board deal was reported last Monday.

Representatives of Global Coal Management plc on that day announced its signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to make a further strategic investment in Bangladesh by subscribing for 26.5 percent of the equity in Peoples Telecom and Information Services Ltd, an investment of $5 million.

Peoples hopes that the investment will bring “significant benefits to the development of the Phulbari Coal Project by ensuring that modern and extensive telecommunication networks and infrastructure are in place across all areas – mine site, transport corridor, port operations, etc.”

Peoples Telecom and Information Services Ltd is an established Bangladesh fixed line telephone operator since 1989 and is currently undertaking a rapid expansion plan, having recently rounded up $15 million from existing shareholders, including company founder Tim Nurun Nabi.

Peoples has also recently gained governmental approval to invest up to $379 million in providing fixed line and/or wireless telephone connections in Bangladesh. Currently, Peoples Telecom has 120 operational exchanges in Bangladesh and currently employs over 280.

Peoples recently completed a 17-kilometer fibre optic ring around capital Dhaka City and has full interconnect agreements with the country’s major cellular operators and fixed line operators, including BTTB.

Now, the investment of $5 million surely has nothing to do with a new hardline stance reiterated by the government the following day, right?

Nah…

Skype is no bin Laden, judge concludes

All over industry news today is an AP report regarding an antitrust lawsuit essentially featuring StreamCast Networks against Skype, but involving Skype inventors Niklas Zennstrom, Janus Friis, developer BlueMoon OU, and eBay, Inc.

Back in January of last year (the wheels of justice grind slo-o-o-o-wly, indeed), StreamCast Networks filed documents in the U.S. District Court’s Central District of California alleging that Skype et al had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.

Under RICO, racketeering activity is basically defined (by Wikipedia sources) as:

any act or threat involving gambling, murder, kidnapping, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical;

any act indictable under a wide variety of specific provisions of title 18 of the United States Code relating to bribery, counterfeiting, theft, embezzlement, fraud, obscene matter, obstruction of justice, slavery, racketeering, gambling, money laundering, commission of murder-for-hire, etc.;

any act indictable under title 29, United States Code, in sections dealing with restrictions on payments and loans to labor organizations and relating to embezzlement from union funds;

any offense involving fraud in the sale of securities, or the felonious manufacture, importation, receiving, concealment, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical;

any act indictable under the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act;

or any act indictable under certain sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

(Interestingly enough, Wikipedia also notes that federal prosecutors wanted to try Osama bin Laden in absentia under RICO in 2001. How’s that case going, guys…?)

StreamCast claimed Skype founders had broken an agreement to give StreamCast the right of first refusal for Skype's VoIP technology. The StreamCast complaint stated that Skype founders took Kazaa technology with them after selling Kazaa the company. StreamCast attempted to sue Skype for some $4.1 billion.

Did we write “attempted”? Oh, yes, because the punchline here is that U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper has thrown out the lawsuit, concluding that “StreamCast failed to make its case for relief under federal antitrust laws and dismissed all claims against Skype, eBay and more than a dozen other defendants,” according to the Associated Press story.

Predictably, StreamCast will appeal the decision.

U.S. interests call for more VoIP in India (and Jamaica and Mexico…)

Day two of looking at that new calendar page and already some trends are obvious. To wit, various national loosenings of current restrictions on VoIP.

Today, India newspaper The Hindu reports that “U.S. telcos want India to open up further.” According to the story, American telecom representatives are appealing to the United States Trade Representative to lean on the Indian government for removal of certain “stringent restrictions” in that country.

In a report submitted to the USTR by the United States Council for International Business on behalf of the VON coalition regarding the operation and effectiveness of U.S. telecommunications trade agreements pursuant to Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1998, India was described as having “made great strides in opening its market to competition, but now the continued development of that market is at a critical juncture.”

Urging the USTR to open up The Subcontinent for more “robust competition” (i.e. companies from outside India, i.e. from America), American telecom interests are calling for a reduction in licensing fees and for the Indian government to “implement promptly the recommendations of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India,” thereby permitting resale of international private leased circuits by February of this year.

The report also analyzed the situation for American would-be VoIP providers in other countries, including Jamaica, where certain added fees give non-Jamaican providers a disadvantage and Mexico, which “should eliminate its prohibition on foreign control of Mexican … carriers authorized to own and operate basic telecommunications facilities.”

“U.S. telcos want India to open up further” by R. Gopalakrishnan can be read in full on The Hindu website.

Court of Appeals rules against Nuvio, VoIP providers

Several VoIP providers, led by Nuvio Corporation, have been ruled against in a U.S. Court of Appeals in Nuvio Corporation v. Federal Communications Commission, Verizon Telephone Companies and AT&T Corporation.

Backed by i2 Telecom International, Lightyear Network Solutions, Lingo.com , and Primus Telecommunications, Nuvio filed a complaint in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit stating that the 120-day deadline for VoIP service companies to provide some sort of 911 services to subscribers was arbitrary and capricious.

The court disagreed and rejected both claims, writing that “Because the [FCC] has reasonably determined that nomadic, non-native VoIP E911 access is technologically feasible, any argument about the time required for implementation is nothing more than quarrel over relative costs and benefits,” and, ultimately,

“Based on the record evidence, the demonstrated safety concerns, and our deference to the Commission’s predictive judgments, we conclude that the order’s 120-day deadline was neither arbitrary nor capricious.”

Nuvio filed the request for intervention on the Court of Appeals’ part on November 2, apparently feeling the crunch of the oncoming November 28 deadline; in turn, the court ordered that the FCC respond by the 8th.

At the time of the filing, Nuvio president/CEO Jason Talley said in an announcement that “We had hoped that the FCC would give guidance in this matter… Unfortunately, either the FCC and staff has been unable or unwilling to answer rudimentary questions about how the deadline will affect users on November 28. Since they remain silent, we have no choice but to ask the Court to stay these arbitrary and untenable rules.”

According to Nuvio statements, the firm was seeking “acknowledgment of parity between VoIP and wireless 911 deployments” from the FCC, arguing that, while wireless providers had 36 million users when 911 mandates were enacted and that “wireless has been given over twelve years to implement a solution,” the 120 days ordered VoIP companies was not nearly enough for proper technology deployment.

What’s the upshot? Aside from essentially an order from a high court to immediately implement a 911 service, some fear VoIP providers could be controlled by an FCC whim. As for those firms that don’t yet have an answer for the 911 conundrum, National Emergency Number Association governmental affairs director Patrick Halley was quoted on Mobile Radio Technology’s website as saying “What the ruling says is that the FCC can do with those companies what it wants … The order went so far as to say they could pull the licenses [of those companies] that aren’t complying. It is very clear: you’re not supposed to provide service unless you also can provide E911.”

According to Halley and MRT, the decision also “frees the FCC to rule on several petitions that previously were filed concerning the order, including one filed by NENA last July.”

Nuvio operates a VoIP network and markets VoIP services through a network of cable MSOs, ISPs, network integrators, VARs and wholesale partnerships worldwide.

China Voice amplified

China Voice Holding Corp., a provider of Voice over Internet Protocol, office automation and wireless solutions for government, businesses and consumers, announced today that it was in the final stages of completing the initial contract phase to provide its integrated internet telephony, groupware and office automation solution to the Chinese leading group office of the Poverty Alleviation and Development Agency.

The integrated voice and data solution is to be provided by CHVC Chinese subsidiary Candidsoft Technologies Company Ltd. of Beijing, Inc. This agreement, combined with a previously made agreement with the GuangXi Autonomous Region calls for Candidsoft to install a minimum of 85,000 seats. The China Voice brain trust reckons that revenue from these two contracts will exceed thirty million dollars annually. Talk about your ROI, eh?

Meanwhile, ‘Stateside, the current China Voice plan is, upon obtaining audits of prior fiscal years, the Company plans to file a Form 10 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to become a full-reporting company in 2007 at which time it will apply for a listing on the NASDAQ Small Cap Market or the AMEX exchange.

Candidsoft is an international software company based in Beijing, China, which provides office automation and integration services to government, academic and commercial customers. Among Candidsoft's current partnerships are China Foreign Trade Commission, China Telecommunication Administration Bureau, China Tourism Bureau, Beijing Normal University, Zhong Shan University, and “a number” of privately owned businesses.

China Voice Holding Corp. is a public holding company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, boasting a portfolio of next-generation communications products and services doing business in the People's Republic of China and the U.S. China Voice PR reminds that the Chinese telecommunications markets is the largest in the world, with 730 million potential customers, 197 million of which have entered that market in the past two years.

Profiteering in Kuwait (and Washington, D.C.)

War: What is it good for? You really want to know? Here’s who: subcontractors.

Today in the nation’s capitol, George W. Bush received the Iraq Study Group report, a report which stated that the current situation in the Middle Eastern nation could “trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe” and called for diplomatic efforts via Iran and Syria; Bush has adamantly stated working with either of these nations is impossible and American troop withdrawal is not on the timetable.

Meanwhile, it’s business as usual in a region whose citizens are currently paying for the deeds of the Bin Ladens, Husseins and Bushes of the world.

To wit, INX, Inc. announced about 90 minutes before reportage of the Iraq Study Group’s turning over of results to Bush that it had been awarded an infrastructure upgrade contract for the U.S. Army’s 160th Signal Brigade stationed in Kuwait. The 160th Signal Brigade is the permanently assigned unit responsible for all army communications for locations in Southwest Asia for Kuwait, Qatar, and Afghanistan.

“With Voice over IP taking hold in region as a result of the Voice over Secure IP initiative implemented by the Defense Information Systems Agency and the certification of Cisco Systems VoIP products by the Joint Interoperability Test Command lab, the Army is now moving forward with infrastructure upgrades that are required in preparation for VoSIP communications implementation,” read the official statement.

The contract award represents approximately $628,000 in products and services revenue for INX, including Cisco network switches, routers, Voice over IP upgrades and implementation services.

VoIP vs. Predator

When the Governator speaks on technology issues, you listen, punk. Listening today is Bryan R. Martin of 8x8, Inc., a guy chosen by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve on Schwarzenegger’s newly formed Broadband Task Force. 8x8 is the provider of Packet8 broadband Voice over Internet Protocol and of videophone communication services; Martin is chairman and CEO of the firm.

The California Broadband Task Force in which Martin will be playing Blain to Schwarzenegger’s Dutch seeks to “bring together public and private stakeholders to remove barriers to broadband access, identify opportunities for increased broadband adoption and enable the creation and deployment of new advanced communication technologies.”

Politics junkies may recall Schwarzenegger’s move regarding broadband ‘round about election time in October this year; at that time good ol’ John Matrix himself signed an executive order calling for broadband networks to be built in all state government agencies; formation of the Task Force is part of the order. “California is home to the greatest technology entrepreneurs. Let’s show the world what we can do,” Schwarzenegger said. “If we want to stay number one in technology, we need action. …I’m signing an executive order to help make California a leader in the telecommunications revolution. Broadband will help build California so we can grow our economy by competing in the global marketplace.”

Martin’s résumé, meanwhile, is stuffed with credits in telecommunications industry and business affairs and before trade, financial and regulatory organizations including the FCC, the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Senate Energy, the Utilities and Communications Committee, IEEE, the National Emergency Number Association, the Association of Police Communication Officials, Technet, the United States Telecom Association and NGN. Martin claims some 31 patents in the semiconductors, computer architecture, video processing algorithms, videophones and communications.

“I am very pleased to see Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointments to this Task Force and the progress on this important initiative which has far reaching technological and economic implications for California, as well as the nation it is leading, by example, in broadband deployment,” said Martin. “California is facing a number of challenges related to the continued growth and expansion of broadband capabilities and the establishment of this Task Force is the first step toward identifying the barriers and creating a road map for the continued acceptance and implementation of open access broadband technology throughout the state.” Plus, it’s just cool to be on a Task Force (in caps, natch) led by Arnold Schwarzenegger, right?

Go ahead, Mr. Martin. Say “I’ll be back…”

8x8 Inc. is a VoIP service provider offering internet-based telephony solutions for individual residential and business users and small- to medium-sized business organizations. 8x8 features Packet8 VoIP service plans and the Packet8 DV 326 VideoPhone, reportedly the industry’s first stand alone broadband consumer videophone.

SaskTel's new plan

Now that a clear path to VoIP has been established for Canadian telcom providers, Saskatchewan’s full-service telecommunications provider SaskTel has jumped right in.

About two weeks ago, minister of industry Maxime Bernier, announced that the government has called on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to avoid economic regulation of most VoIP services.

Bernier’s ruling overturned a previous decision from the CRTC in June entitled “Reconsideration of Regulatory framework for voice communication services using Internet Protocol.” At that time, SaskTel was quick to release acid-tongued statements in response to the 2006 decision, calling a regulatory approach by CRTC “simply bad public policy.”

John Meldrum, SaskTel’s vice president of regulatory affairs, blasted the CRTC’s decision with “This most recent decision demonstrates that the CRTC is incapable of aligning the regulatory framework to current technology, market and consumer realities.” Upon announcement of the overturning, Meldrum stated “we’ll be free to price our VoIP products as we see fit, as the market determines, without having to go to the commission, without having to be told that the price is too low.”

And last week saw the release of the VoIP product SaskTel had promised for months. On Friday, SaskTel representatives said folks in Regina, Prince Albert, and Saskatoon can get the basic version of its VoIP phone service with the 306 area code. The service costs $16 a month and gives customers unlimited local calls to the three Saskatchewan cities, plus Victoria, Vancouver, Abbotsford, Prince George, Kamloops, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, and Alta. The new service is being sold through a service called WebCall, which is operated by Navigata, a subsidiary of SaskTel.

Last week also saw the release of a digital phone service from Saskatoon-based Shaw Communications; Access Communications in Regina will be releasing a digital service in early 2007. In response to the would-be competing products, a SaskTel representative was quoted on radio station News Talk 980 (and subsequently many industry media outlets) as stating, “We’ve been down this road before.”

SaskTel tells all how happy they are

Predictably enough, the representatives of SaskTel are pleased as punch with the Canadian government’s decision that VoIP service pricing would not be regulated in the country, and they’re telling the media so.

SaskTel was one of the more vocally outspoken critics of the June ruling by Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruling of June that VoIP would be subject to identical regulatory framework as extant traditional phone services.

At that time, John Meldrum, SaskTel’s vice president of regulatory affairs, blasted the CRTC’s decision with “This most recent decision demonstrates that the CRTC is incapable of aligning the regulatory framework to current technology, market and consumer realities.” Meldrum went on to call for immediate intervention by the federal cabinet in order to “ensure that Canada does not lose its position as a world leader in telecommunications."

Today, however, Meldrum is all smiles, at least to the CBC. Now, “we'll be free to price our VoIP products as we see fit, as the market determines, without having to go to the commission, without having to be told that the price is too low,” he said, and implied that the decision would boost sales of SaskTel’s planned “web call” service. The CBC also stated that Meldrum wants “less regulation from Ottawa and hopes the same approach applied to the VoIP case will apply to other phone services.”

Big deal in Canada, eh?

North of the border, industry media is taken with one story and one story only: As well it should be, as a government decision handed down today instantly changed the future of the VoIP landscape in Canada.

The Canadian government, through the mouthpiece of minister of industry Maxime Bernier, announced that the government has called on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to avoid economic regulation of most VoIP services. “Canada’s telecommunications landscape has changed dramatically in recent years,” announced Bernier, “and it’s time for our regulatory approach to evolve as well. A more competitive environment will translate into greater choice, newer products and better services for the Canadian consumer.”

The decision was made well within the 90-day deadline granted such appeals in the Canadian government.

In June, the CRTC upheld a ruling known as Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-53 and entitled “Reconsideration of Regulatory framework for voice communication services using Internet Protocol.” (CRTC 2005-28, to which Bernier’s new ruling refers, was the original ruling on which 2006-53 was based.)

The first ruling along the path leading to CRTC 2006-53 and yesterday’s decision came from the CRTC in May 2005, at which time CRTC ruled that VoIP would be subject to identical regulatory framework as extant traditional phone services. Telus and BCE appealed that decision and presented their case to the federal government. At that time, Bernier reportedly “[gave] the CRTC clear instruction to make pro-market changes” that same month. The CRTC upheld the 2005 decision, despite Bernier’s appeal.

According to the public statement released by the CRTC in June, twelve months’ worth of local competition data “showed that competitors are making significant investments, are rapidly extending their customer service offerings, are keeping most of the customers they attract and are achieving or exceeding their business plans.”

SaskTel, Saskatchewan’s full-service telecommunications provider, was quick to release acid-tongued statements in response to the 2006 decision, calling a regulatory approach by CRTC “simply bad public policy.” The Coalition for Competitive Telecommunications, claiming representation from some 12,000 Canadian businesses, flat out “denounced the failure of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to change the Voiceover Internet Protocol regulatory regime.”

Bernier today explained that “The government’s variance of the CRTC’s decision is another step towards deregulation and is consistent with the proposed policy direction we introduced this year. Our goal is to reshape telecommunications policy so that it supports an internationally competitive and robust telecommunications industry here in Canada.”

According to the CanWest News Service story “Gov’t overrules CRTC on internet phone calls,” Bernier’s “highly unusual move is the first time the federal government has overruled a decision by the independent telephone regulator in more than a decade.” As CanWest sees it, the big losers in the decision will not necessarily be larger companies like MTS AllStream, which had come out publicly in support of 2006-53 and AOL Canada; rather companies with smaller presence in the Great White North will be taking the hit. High-profile examples here are Vonage and Primus Canada.

Writes Vito Pilieci: “In the short term, [the ruling] will mean a pricing war on VoIP services, which could see more people using their Internet connections to make phone calls. However, in the long run the pricing war could see a number of the smaller players go out of business.” And Angus research firm TeleManagement Group president Ian Angus is quoted as saying that “We will see a short and very intense price war. We will get lower prices for a time [and] I think we will see a lot of other companies disappear.’’

Of course, all news stories are generally spun equally, and by no means will Vonage be giving up the Canadian market easily. Vonage Canada vice president of marketing and business development applied the “there is no such thing as bad publicity” philosophy, going so far as to say that the announcement was good news, because the high-profile announcement would expose the masses to VoIP.

‘‘This is a good day for Vonage,’’ Parent was quoted as saying. ‘‘It delivers higher profile to the market.’’

The full text of the government’s variance of the CRTC decision on VoIP will be published in the November 29 Canada Gazette.

Vito Pilieci’s “Gov’t overrules CRTC on internet phone calls” can be read in full at Canada.com.

Huge project for Chicago schools

And speaking (writing? reading?) of VoIP systems in schools, Jon Van of the Chicago Tribune reported on the city’s public system’s decision to switch to internet telephony in his conveniently entitled article “Chicago Public Schools convert phone lines to VoIP technology.”

According to the piece, Chicago Public Schools is switching to internet-based phones in an approximately $28 million move. This is “expected to be the largest such conversion of any U.S. school system.”

It certainly is huge: The Tribune throws around numbers like “700 sites, 17,000 Centrex lines and 24,000 phones” to describe the complexity of the school system’s phone system. As a precaution, the article reads, “a few traditional circuits will continue to operate at each school so if anything happens to the VoIP system, there'll still be some connectivity to the outside world.”

The four-year project is currently in its initial stages and is being undertaken by Ottawa, Canada-based Mitel Networks.

The Governator loves VoIP

The governator caught the industry’s attention in the midst of his re-election campaign. As sitting governor of sunny California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, this week signed an executive order to build broadband networks in all state government agencies.

Why is the Predator hunter signing this order? (Aside from garnering votes from those five or six techie geeks that don’t already worship Arnie for his sci-fi flicks…) He’s glad you asked. As a VoIP news blogger quotes (imagine the accent yourself): “California is home to the greatest technology entrepreneurs. Let’s show the world what we can do,” said Schwarzenegger. “If we want to stay number one in technology, we need action. In countries like Japan and South Korea, the people have access to great technologies at lower costs than anywhere in America. We can do that. Michigan has one of the largest wireless broadband networks in the country. We can do that. That’s why I’m signing an executive order to help make California a leader in the telecommunications revolution. Broadband will help build California so we can grow our economy by competing in the global marketplace.”

(Bear in mind that the state of California represents a larger economy than all but five nations. And Arnold promises to “grow” this economy. Okay…)

VoIP News closes with, “Who said he’s nothing more than a stiff actor? Or that he’d pander to a hot issue in a technological state less than a week before he’s up for re-election?” Come on, guys, surely it’s both, right? The guy’s just trying to keep his job and, as far as his movies go, it was all downhill after the Running Man (1987), with a blip for Total Recall in 1990.

And Schwarzenegger’s John Hancock on this particular bill is clearly simply another move in the great love the man has for high-tech. Perhaps it is a political move in some sense, but, as Cox News Service reported four hours before this writing that “polls show the actor-turned-politician leading his Democratic challenger, state treasurer Phil Angelides, by double digits, with no signs of slowing.”

The Cox article goes on with a brilliant quote from on Jack Pitney, political science professor at Claremont McKenna College: “Angelides is the proverbial 98-pound weakling going up against Arnold Schwarzenegger. And it's really hard to put on 200 pounds in a few weeks.” Unless, of course, anabolic steroids are involved, right?

The election for California governor is scheduled for November 7.

Of crimes in VoIP

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (hum along the “Dragnet” theme: dum da DUM DUM!) has released some statistics on cyber harassment and cyber stalking, specifically over VoIP programs.

In 2005, the FBI (dum da dum dum…) responded to 228,407 cyber complaints, including incidents of harassment and stalking. In fact, said the G-Men’s press release, “even chatbots aren’t safe. In the Skype user forums, there’s a report of a company setting up a Skype chatbot demonstration for one of their clients. Within the first few hours it was online, chatbot Sara_VN1 had been propositioned by well over 20 strange men, all looking for a cybersex hookup or a face-to-face meeting. None of the would-be Lotharios took the time to read the bot’s profile, which clearly stated Sara_VN1’s AI status.” (Is this scenario really surprising, My VoIP News asks…?)

The FBI’s Cyber Investigations division (beep a beep beep!) recommends creating gender-neutral online names and email addresses. Free email accounts (here the feds name Google, Yahoo, and Hotmail as example), they say, add another layer of protection between an unsuspecting would-be victim and a “would-be Lothario” (damn, that’s good): Use these accounts for chat rooms, IM accounts, message boards, newsgroups and mailing lists. Reserve your primary email address for communication with trusted contacts only, recommends the FBI.

Meanwhile, the envy-inducingly named VoIP.com has released details on a “new kind of internet scam.” (Just what we needed, eh?) Said new scam is called “vishing,” a procedure which entails receiving a phone call from a bank or credit card company requesting confirmation of account numbers and / or passwords. When the unsuspecting VoIP user enters the information, it’s immediately in the hands of a perp. (Did you catch that law enforcement lingo?)

VoIP subscribers should guard against vishing, says VoIP.com, by remembering three things:

• Vishing attempts may not be personalized, and the caller a generic recording asking you to call a number and update your information. It may also be a live call with an operator; however they generally won’t have specific information about your account.

• If you receive a suspicious call, hang up and call your institution back using the number on the back of your card or statement.

• Always let your institution know if you have been the victim of a successful or attempted vish attack.

As far as My VoIP News can trace, the FBI (dum da DUM DUM) has issued no statement on “vishing.” Just the facts, ma’am.

Comcast vs. Missouri

Cable biggies Comcast Corp. may have quite a sizable problem on their hands soon – a Kansas City-sized problem, in fact.

The Kansas City Business Journal reports that Missouri state regulators are following up on a complaint filed by the Public Service Commission in September, which states that Comcast did not receive proper approval to market telephone service in Kansas City and surrounding area. Comcast, it seems, didn’t bother to obtain certain certification required of telecom companies.

Comcast had actually begun marketing its VoIP service in the area in June of this year, and the firm is once again arguing the same legal point it has since initially offering VoIP service, i.e. that their service should be regulated at the federal level rather than at a state level as in a standard telecom provider. Currently, the FCC is in agreement with Comcast.

“Way back” in February 2004, the FCC found that “an entirely internet-based VoIP service was an unregulated information service. On the same day, the FCC began a broader proceeding to examine what its role should be in this new environment of increased consumer choice and what it can best do to meet its role of safeguarding the public interest.”

In November of that same year, Vonage was kind enough to jurisdictionally pave the way for VoIP providers, getting the FCC to rule that Vonage’s DigitalVoice service could not be subject to both federal and state-level law because “it can’t practically be divided into interstate and intrastate components.” (Amazingly enough, this sounds like an incredibly rational decision on the part of the FCC.)

Interesting, insidious and important to note was a federal ruling handed down in August 2005, which stated that “[VOIP] companies are substantial replacements for old-fashioned telephone service, and must equip their systems to respond to federal wiretap orders. … The services will have 18 months to comply with the order, which also applies to cable-modem companies and other broadband providers.”

In any event, the Public Service Commission is arguing that “Vonage provides a different form of VoIP than Comcast and Time Warner Cable. The cable companies’ version is more similar to a copper phone [such as that of] AT&T Inc. … and should be regulated similarly.” An AT&T spokesman got his digs in, too, stating, “We’ve always thought it was sort of ironic that the cable companies want no rules in the phone business but all kinds of rules when the phone companies get into cable television.” Well put, but isn’t this actually what all communications companies do? Poor AT&T…

The PSC complaint calls for Comcast to pay a fine on the order of $2,000 per day, an amount that would be, by My VoIP News’ calculations, slightly less than a quarter of million smackeroos on Monday. Certainly, Comcast can find this kind of scratch somewhere. After all, their VoIP subsidiary Cox Digital Phone reports 1.8 million subscribers at present.

PAL of the Brigade

Authoritatively-named Third Brigade, a security software company that specializes in intrusion prevention systems to North American firms, today announced that Industry Canada is using its host-based intrusion prevention system in the Protocol Analysis Lab.

Based in Ottawa, one area of interest of the PAL is the protection of traditional telecommunications as well as the “Next Generation Networks” (a.k.a. NGNs). Among PAL responsibilities is to provide analysis of existing and emerging security threats to these networks, and to act as a conduit of collaborative initiatives between government, academia and the telecommunications industry in order to quantify and help resolve these threats.

Third Brigade’s host-based intrusion prevention system is one of the technologies used by PAL in its on-going engineering studies into VoIP and NGN security vulnerabilities. Third Brigade’s deep packet inspection engine inspects inbound and outbound traffic streams for malicious code and protocol anomalies that match defined rules.

Because VoIP offers a broad range of compelling benefits – including simplified infrastructure, increased scalability, reduced operating costs, improved productivity, and flexibility – it is becoming a strategic focus for governments and businesses alike.

However, like all IP-based applications, it is vulnerable to attacks that can result in service disruptions and theft. By architecting advanced, host-based intrusion prevention technology into their systems, VoIP providers are theoretically addressing a key customer concern, and will assist in ensuring the rapid adoption of their products and services.

Third Brigade specializes in providing intrusion prevention systems to health care, government, telecommunications, financial services and other organizations that need to prevent attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in software.

Swiss spying causes privacy concerns worldwide

A story came out of Switzerland this morning that has folks worldwide sweating. Reportedly, the Swiss government is toying with the idea of using Superintendent Trojan, a spyware program, as a bug to potentially listen in on conversations on IP telephony.

The story of the project, which had been progressing completely under wraps, appears to have been broken by SonntagsZeitung, with first English-language reporting probably Heise Security. Heise elaborated upon some details on the actual parameters of the program, most importantly that such spying is ostensibly only permissible under court order.

Heise reported that, after receiving such a court order, “The ISPs of the persons under investigation will then slip the program onto their computers. The program will save overheard conversations and send them to a server ... The wiretap has some additional functions. For example, the built in microphone on a laptop can be turned on to monitor a room or webcams can be activated.”

Heise also quoted Charles Gudet, head of the Special Services Department of the Swiss Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, as acknowledging that there is “no clear legal basis for the use of Trojans.”

The contracted firm in question is ERA IT Solutions. Spokespersons for the company quoted in TechWorld’s online edition sought to relax fears by stating that Superintendent Trojan would be implemented only by government agencies, a policy it hopes will “leave it off malware blacklists compiled by anti-virus and anti-spyware developers.”

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Register daily was slightly less objective than most outlets in reportage of the potential privacy invasion issue, with writer John Leyden (wait a minute – wasn’t he the lead singer of the Sex Pistols?) who wrote that, “Even if we accept ERA's assertion that the use of the technology would be restricted to government agencies, anti-virus firms would be honour bound to blacklist the app if any of their customers complained about it.”

And Leyden’s judgment on the idea reads, “Altogether the plan seems fraught with difficulties, without even considering whether evidence obtained via such covert methods would be legally submittable.”

Superintendent Trojan, says ERA, is “able to skirt round any firewalls and evade detection by any antivirus applications already installed on the target machine.”

And, yes, this rather insidious bit of spywork is already seen as a threat internationally, with Finland-based security company F-Secure reps saying that they would not “leave such backdoors to our … anti-virus products, regardless of the source.”

Governments get a bundle

IPcelerate, Inc., a provider of communications-based software applications, announced today the introduction of a pre-integrated, pre-configured bundled solution for state and local government agencies using IP telephony.

The bundled solution promises to address specific critical government initiatives such as increased safety / security, rapid emergency response, and efficient citizen communication. The IPcelerate solution includes IPsession, IPstudio and IP Video Surveillance application servers, and key functions include 911 notification, RFID pendant and sensor integration, dial out, on-demand audio recording, and triggered video surveillance.

The government solution marks the first bundled product introduced by IPcelerate. Company officials have stated that future bundled products will be aimed at the healthcare, finance, legal, and the education sector markets.

IPcelerate, Inc. is a Dallas-based VoIP solutions provider. IPcelerate solutions include those in personnel safety, improved employee productivity, asset protection, supply chain management and increased situational awareness.

Samplings of global VoIP suppresion

For VoIP enthusiasts, lay people who just want to enjoy the benefits of VoIP and business interests keen to harness the enormous communication and saving potential offered by VoIP, there are a few places in the world which continue to be off-limits. Most of these countries are in the developing world and are wary of VoIP eating into the profits of the telecom sector. VoIP providers offer calls at rates that are several times lower than those charged by fixed land lines, sometimes VoIP offers its call free.

China: China makes news whatever it does; the country is a gargantuan market for all things under the sun and on its no surprise that it was the prime spot on the radar of companies such as Skype. The hopes of VoIP companies establishing a hold in Cathay were dealt a blow when China announced that it was suspending issuing further VoIP permits till 2008. This was in March 2006. The announcement put the brakes on the aspirations of many upcoming VoIP players from China who were in various stages of collaboration with European and American VoIP companies. China, it seems is bent upon protecting its PSTN networks till such time that they are able to offer VoIP services themselves at competitive rates. Skype will apparently be the hardest hit by this two year moratorium as it was conducting several negotiations on entering the largest market in Asia. The Chinese are so protective about their telecom turf that companies like Verso Technologies have successfully sold VoIP-blocking technology to many Chinese telecom firms.

UAE: UAE has only one telecom provider and it is a subsidiary of Emirates Telecommunication better known as Etisalat. Etisalat earns around USD 250 million each year and a huge chunk of it is from international phone calls of by its expatriate population which makes up more than 90% of its population. The telecom department has moved swiftly to counter the threat to its telecom revenue by VoIP providers even if it meant blocking the Skype website by labeling it inconsistent with the country’s ethical and moral beliefs. Etisalat is said to be interested in developing its own consumer VoIP service and as mentioned here. Etisalat actually makes use of VoIP gateways to relay as much as 40% of its international calls. In fact, so determined is UAE to not give foreign VoIP providers a bite of its telecom pie that it has moved from port blocking which is comparatively easier to avoid to packet filtering which works better for restricting SIP traffic. Qatar and Oman are other Gulf states to have blocked VoIP.

USA: An excellent piece – VoIP comes up against a wall of entrenched telecom interests. The title is self explanatory and paints a clear picture of what ISPs relaying third party VoIP traffic can do should they choose to hurt a VoIP provider. As far back as March 2005, Madison River Communication, a broadband provider in North Carolina was hauled up by the FCC and made to pay a fine of $15,000 to the government for blocking VoIP calls. In this particular case, it was VoIP calls covered by Vonage that were being blocked by Madison. As stated here increasingly the trend noticed in the efforts of service providers is not of outright VoIP blocking but of interfering with the transmission such that incoming is fine but outgoing is truly scrambled. It’s an interesting way of maintaining network neutrality to say the least. ISPs are turning to equipment provided by companies like Narus which can mess up a VoIP transmission by introducing jitter, latency and generally degrading the quality of the conversation. This degrading is then used as a tool by the ISPs against VoIP companies to pay more for removing the artificial barriers.

Mexico: In Mexico too, Telmex, a former government concern, moved swiftly as soon as it felt the heat from VoIP growing. Skype and Vonage subscribers were most affected when in early 2005 they found their outgoing/audio upload to be totally garbled. When no fault could be traced at the VoIP providers’ end, the finger of suspicion pointed toward Telmex. The US administration did not take too kindly to the events in Mexico and a report released by the Office of the U.S Trade expressed concern stating “"Uncertainty regarding the treatment of voice over Internet Protocol services in Mexico is cause for concern. Irrespective of the merits of Telmex's ambitions, restrictions on the ability of any entity, foreign or domestic, to supply VoIP appears inappropriate."

The most elemental reason for making VoIP free is that it brings down the cost of communication; this is of significance to the millions of people who live in third world countries that often have one state-run telecom company with one or two subsidiaries. Blatant protectionist policies by the government will effectively hand over control in the government’s hands with respect to the technology that people use to communicate. It can be said that this is not very short of blatant state policing. ISPs are frequently instructed by the state to filter Internet content. The next