Net phone hang-ups looming?

A group of telecommunications giants is quietly pushing a proposal that could create hang-ups for up-and-coming Internet-telephone rivals.

At stake are rules used to divvy up the 5.2 billion unassigned phone numbers set aside for use in North America, one of the biggest potential markets for Internet, or voice over IP (VoIP), telephone services. VoIP technology allows people to make phones calls that travel over the Internet rather than solely across wires owned by long-distance phone companies. Such calls can be made from telephone systems that tap into the Internet, and from PCs.

The cost of making such calls is significantly less than that of basic long-distance service because the calls bypass the phone companies' lines. As a result, many large corporations and tech-savvy consumers are using VoIP to make long-distance calls.

Net telephony providers such as Vonage and Net2Phone enjoy an unfettered stream of new numbers passed down from other carriers, which they can hand out to customers as they wish. Now, Verizon Communications, BellSouth and Qwest Communications International want federal regulators to tell the newcomers to heel.

Verizon and the others raised their concerns most recently at a meeting Wednesday of the North American Numbering Council (NANC). The industry group is chartered by the Federal Communications Commission and is charged with developing policies on how to distribute telephone numbers.

If successful, some observers warn, the lobbying push could dampen the market for Internet-telephone service in the United States.

News source: News.com