U.S. regulators have moved to place the emerging voice over Internet phone services squarely under federal control.
The Federal Communications Commission granted a petition Tuesday by Vonage Holdings that its service be treated as interstate, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Although Minnesota's public utilities regulators had been seeking jurisdiction of the service, the FCC said that because customers could use the service from a cell phone anywhere in the world it was most naturally a federal rather than a state concern.
A federal appeals court next week is to take up a Vonage challenge to Minnesota's effort to regulate it. But the court could defer to the FCC or it could strike down the agency action, in which case the issue may go to the Supreme Court.
If sustained, the FCC action will apparently exempt Internet-enabled services provided by cable companies from states' oversight which could be good news for big U.S. phone and cable companies that are beginning to offer such calling plans to customers.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
