Key Telco Legislator, Net Neutrality Champion Jumps To Energy

Congressman Edward Markey, a key proponent of net neutrality and online privacy, will leave his position on the committee that deals with telecommunications regulation to chair the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment. House watchers had expected Markey to remain on the Commerce Committee, where he would direct the telecommunications agenda. Instead, that role will be taken by Congressman Rick Boucher, who takes on the chairmanship of the Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Boucher has been a supporter of municipal wireless efforts, has co-sponsored a bill to direct Universal Service Funds for broadband deployment (and require VoIP providers to pay into the USF), tried to amend the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to provide more protection for fair use, and appears to favor government intervention to deliver rural broadband access. Image courtesy of Congressman Ed Markey.

 

What Are The VoIP Trends in 2009

Robert Poe has another of his well thought out "lists" over at VoIP-News where he identifies some of the trends in VoIP for the new year. I think there will be a few more trends. 1) Consolidation of companies-instead of features being companies, smart money will "roll up" the VoIP features and put them into one business and offer them as service. 2) Voice SaaS-more and more of the VoIP plays will become Software as a Service, with a greater emphasis of real time communication built into web sites. Think about companies like Jaduka and ifByPhone. 3) More micropayments for voice calls via web, mobile that go over WiFi-I see more companies adopting a "voice" channel vs. email or chat via web sites. As customers demand more "live" interaction, simplifying the process to "talk" and "engage" becomes paramount. 4) More APIs creating more new services.

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