[governance] ISPs, PTA lock horns over illegal VoIP

Fri Jun 19 10:23:51 EDT 2009

Milton L Mueller wrote:
> Why does your government make VoIP illegal to begin with? VoIP has the ability to save internet and telecom users hundreds of dollars a year. It is nothing more than a software application. I suppose the politicians who support these bans are the same ones asking for international development funds to combat the digital divide...
>   
You know the reason. Many governments in the developing or transitional 
countries have at various points imposed restrictions on the grounds 
that it bleeds revenue from the dominant incumbent carriers' PSTNs and 
undermines their control. I don't have current information at hand 
(would appreciate pointers from anyone who does) but back in 2001, when 
the ITU did a World Telecom Policy Forum on IP telephony, staff did a SG 
report that included the tables below (cut and paste from a Word doc, 
apologies if they get garbled). I seem to remember hearing higher 
numbers back then, like that > 50 countries had significant or total 
prohibitions, but my memory is fuzzy, don't know about now.

I guess this is why I don't clean all the old gunk off my computer, you 
never know when you might want something obscure...

Bill

Table B.1: Countries that include IP Telephony (i.e. voice and fax over 
_both_ the Internet and IP-based networks) within their regulatory 
system or that do not specifically regulate IP Telephony

*/No specific prohibition for voice/fax over the Public Internet or over 
IP-based networks/*

*/Permitted or not regulated, if not real-time/*/ (not considered voice 
telephony)/

*/Permitted. If real-time, subject to light conditions 
/*/(notification/registration may be required, other basic provisions of 
voice regulation)/

*/Permitted. If real-time, treated similarly to other voice 
telecommunications services/*/ (licensable, subject to more extensive 
provisions of voice regulation)/

*Angola** *

*Antigua** and Barbuda**^1 *

*Argentina***

*Bhutan***

*Congo***

*Costa Rica***

*Dominican Republic***

*Estonia**^2 ***

*Gambia***

*Guatemala***

*Guyana***

*Madagascar***

*Malta***

*Mexico***

*Mongolia**^2 ***

*Nepal***

*New Zealand***

*Peru**^6 ***

*Poland***

*Slovak** Republic***

*St Lucia**^1 *

*St Vincent**^3 ***

*Tonga***

*Uganda***

*United States**^4 ***

*Viet Nam***

*EU Countries**^5 ***

*Hungary***

(if delay =/>250ms and packet loss >1%)

*Iceland***

*Norway***

*Czech** Republic* *Hongkong SAR*

*Japan***

*Singapore***

*Switzerland***

* *

*Australia** *

*Canada***

*China***

*Israel***

*Korea** (Rep.)*

*Malaysia***

*Morocco***

/Notes/: Depending on whether or not speech transmission is “real-time”, 
normal voice regulation may apply to varying degrees. Regulatory 
information on the real-time nature of the service is not available for 
all countries.

*^1 * In Antigua & Barbuda and St Lucia, the use of the public Internet 
is not prohibited for voice and fax, but no data is available on the use 
of IP-based networks for these services.

*^2 *In Estonia, both domestic and international phone calls over 
IP-based networks were prohibited until Dec. 31, 2000. Public IP 
Telephony was also prohibited until 31 Dec 2000. In Mongolia, 
international telephone calls over the public Internet were prohibited 
until Dec. 31, 2000.

^3 In St Vincent, the use of IP-based networks is not prohibited, but no 
data is available regarding the use of the public Internet for voice and 
fax services

^4* * The United States permits IP Telephony unconditionally, i.e. it is 
exempt from the international settlements regime.

*^5 *The 15 countries of the European Union are Austria, Belgium, 
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, 
the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

*^6 * 1n Peru, licensees (national, international and long-distance 
service providers) can use any technology, including IP. However, for 
value-added service providers, real-time voice over IP is not permitted.

/Source: / This table is based on the ITU 2000 Regulatory Survey and ITU 
case studies. Changes or clarifications to this table that were 
submitted by Member States in the context of WTPF-01 have been noted.

Table B.2: Countries that permit voice/fax services over _either_ the 
Public Internet _or_ IP-based networks (but not both)

*/Country/*

*/Use of the Public Internet/*

*/Use of IP-based networks/*

*/ /*

*Cyprus***

* *

*Prohibited*

*Not prohibited*

*Ethiopia***

* *

*Prohibited*

*Not prohibited*

*Ecuador***

*Not prohibited*

(Telephony over Internet is permitted in applications through end user 
software and/or end user terminals)**

* *

*India***

*Prohibited*

*Not prohibited*

*Kenya***

* *

*Prohibited*

(voice services; includes call-back and refile)

*Not prohibited*

*Kyrgyzstan***

* *

*Not prohibited*

* *

*Prohibited*

(IP Telephony until 2003)

*Philippines***

* *

*Prohibited*

* *

*Not prohibited*

*Sri Lanka***

* *

*Not prohibited*

*Prohibited*

(voice services)

/ /

/Source: /This table is based on the ITU 2000 Regulatory Survey. Changes 
or clarifications that were submitted by Member States in the context of 
WTPF-01 have been noted.

*
*

Table B.3: Countries that prohibit the use of _both_ the Public Internet 
_and_ IP-based networks for voice or fax services

*/Countries /*

*/ Specifics given/*

*Albania***

Voice services over IP-based networks prohibited until 2003

*Azerbaijan***

*Belize***

All services prohibited

*Botswana***

Voice prohibited over the public Internet

*Cambodia***

Voice prohibited indefinitely

*Cameroon***

Telephony prohibited over the public Internet;

Telephony and Fax prohibited over IP-based networks

*Côte d’Ivoire***

Voice prohibited over the public Internet until 2004

*Croatia***

*Cuba***

Telephony prohibited over the public Internet and IP networks

Telephony over public networks based on IP allowed for the licensed 
voice operator

*Eritrea***

Voice is prohibited for some years to come (both over the public 
Internet and IP-based networks)

*Ethiopia***

Voice and fax services prohibited over both the Public Internet and 
IP-based networks

*Gabon***

Telephony prohibited (both over the public Internet and IP-based networks)

*Indonesia***

Telephony prohibited over the public Internet. Regulation now under 
preparationo allow voice over IP-based networks

*India***

India prohibits the use of voice services over the public Internet, but 
did not respond to the question relating to IP-based networks

*Israel***

Telephony prohibited over the public Internet

Both voice and fax prohibited over IP-based networks

*Jordan***

Voice prohibited over the public Internet. Voice and fax services 
prohibited over IP-based networks until the end of 2004

*Latvia***

*Lithuania***

Voice prohibited over both the public Internet and IP-based networks 
until Dec. 31, 2002

*Mozambique***

Voice and Fax services prohibited over both the public Internet and 
IP-based networks

*Myanmar***

*Nicaragua***

Voice services prohibited over both the public Internet and IP-based 
networks

*Nigeria***

Voice and fax prohibited over IP-based networks at this time

*Pakistan***

Voice termination services prohibited over the public Internet

Voice prohibited over IP-based networks

*Paraguay***

Voice services prohibited over both the public Internet and IP-based 
networks

*Qatar***

Telephony and Fax prohibited over both the public Internet and IP-based 
networks, subject to review

*Romania***

Voice services prohibited over the public Internet

Voice services prohibited until at least Jan. 1, 2003

*Senegal***

Telephony prohibited over the public Internet

*Seychelles***

Voice and fax over the public Internet are prohibited, but Internet 
Telephony, which is an Internet application rather than a 
telecommunication service, provided by an ISP is permitted. All services 
over IP-based networks are prohibited.

*Swaziland***

*Thailand***

Voice and fax services prohibited over both the public Internet and 
IP-based networks

*Togo***

*Trinidad and Tobago***

Voice services prohibited over IP-based networks

*Tunisia***

*Turkey***

Voice prohibited over both the public Internet and IP-based networks

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