Jogja Ponsel

Telecoms watchdog Ofcom is seeking industry views on the nascent yet maturing market of VoIP communications, as a code of practice for service providers looms.

The media regulator yesterday unveiled its first consultation document into the service since its interim guidance for users and service providers in September 2004.

At the time, Skype and BT dominated VoIP headlines before the market “developed significantly in terms of the choice of providers, the services offered and the equipment that customers use,” the watchdog said.

With awareness of VoIP now at 50 per cent of the UK population, and with over 500,000 UK users, Ofcom says now is the time for updated guidance and changes to the regulatory framework.

In particular, service providers have voiced concerns they face barriers to developing their services such as difficulty in gaining number portability and suspected blocking, or degrading, of VoIP calls by ISPs.

Initial consultation has also revealed a concern from the public that service providers should incorporate emergency calls into their offerings, to ensure consumer packages come with so-called ‘999 access.’

Research by the regulator suggest three million Britons will sign up to a VoIP service within the next six months, whether it be PC-to-PC, secondary line services (such as Tesco and Gossiptel), Voice over Wireless, or another service.

“Take-up growth is forecast to continue and as more people start to use VoIP services, Ofcom is required to ensure that regulatory requirements are continually adapted to meet the needs of both customers and providers,” the regulator said in a statement.

It added that such diversity in VoIP services is likely to dominate the market “for the foreseeable future,” as no set combination of equipment, features or business model has yet emerged.

However the fragmentation is no reason for service providers to be ambiguous about their consumer offerings, as Ofcom is proposing, among a raft of other considerations, that providers are clear about their VoIP capabilities.

The proposal suggests the regulator has been listening to consumer complaints about VoIP, which have focused less on security – often the charge of the business community, and more on the quality of calls.

The consultation is open for interested parties until May 3, with Ofcom hoping to create “an environment in which new technologies can be developed and deployed successfully in the market, so that consumers can benefit from a wider and more innovative range of services.”

To view the full consultation document, please access: www.ofcom.org.uk

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