Is SBC is Firebombing the VoIP Competition?
I can’t believe I missed this yesterday when I was looking through my RSS Feeds. Om Malik’s entry on how SBC is using their monopoly powers to snuff out the VoIP competition is absolutely spot-on.
Any of the ILECs could easily pull a stunt like this, and it’s absolute crap. Given the baby bells pull in Washington, I’m not sure what us lowly consumers can do about it. Quite honestly, there should be one tariff for termination onto a carriers network and it should not take into account where or how it came in. The fact that there are different tariffs for local and long-distance termination makes no sense to me.
Tom Keating has a slightly different view in his SBC VoIP Tariff Scare, basically pointing out it this new tariff is “voluntary”. SBC simply wants to offer a more direct way for IP telephony providers to connect into their network. The FCC asked SBC to put this “voluntary” promise in writing.
Until SBC actually puts that voluntary promise in writing, my concern about this issue will not be assuaged.
