| The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ruled that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) should be open to value-added service providers (VAS) as well as telecommunications service providers.
VAS are firms offering, "enhanced services beyond those ordinarily provided for by local exchange and interexchange operators, and overseas carriers through circuit switched networks."The NTC ruling ended a long-running disagreement between telecommunications companies and VAS providers on which firms should be allowed to offer VoIP. In its ruling, the commission said that VAS providers could offer VoIP only after signing agreements with telecommunication companies for both access and interconnection charges.
VoIP is expected to drive down telecommunication charges. With VoIP, regulators expect international call rates to drop to 10 cents per minute from 40 cents currently.
Telecommunication companies had insisted that VoIP was a voice service and therefore only licensed telecommunication firms could offer it. However, VAS providers, led by companies providing internet services, had claimed that VoIP could not be classified as voice since the VoIP technology actually broke down voice into digital packets for transmission over the internet.
Source: BusinessWorld - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News
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