California may eliminate oversight for VOIP services

A California State Senate bill designed to deregulate VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services in the Golden State has passed the Senate Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee by a vote of 11-0.

The bill, known formally as SB 1331, would eliminate the power of the state’s Public Utilities Commission to regulate VOIP services, which historically has had regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone companies. Critics of SB 1331 charge that the bill would eliminate key government oversight, during its proponents argue that it would provide freedom for the industry to innovate as much as it sees fit.

Withering away

"We see this as a withering away and the elimination of PUC regulation over telecommunication," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "We think that would be bad public policy."

Major telecommunications corporations, including AT&T and Verizon, have supported the bill, and would stand to benefit the most from its passage. According to the non-profit, non-partisan innovation organization MapLight, the bill’s author, Sen. Alex Padilla, received $23,900 in campaign donations from AT&T between 2007 and 2010, and a total of near $70,000 from all telecom firms.