FCC delays cutoff deadline for VoIP providers
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[August 26, 2005]

FCC delays cutoff deadline for VoIP providers

By JENNIFER C. KERR Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

Federal regulators on Friday extended a disconnection deadline that could have left tens of thousands of people without their Internet phone service.

The Federal Communications Commission said it would delay a Monday deadline for providers of Internet-based phone calls to get acknowledgments from their customers that they understand the problems they may encounter when dialing 911 in an emergency.


Providers of the phone service, known as Voice over Internet Protocol or "VoIP," had been told by the FCC that they should disconnect service by Tuesday to people who had not responded.

But in Friday's notice, the agency said the deadline would be extended to Sept. 28 for the providers to get their acknowledgments. If by that time a provider still has not received confirmation from a customer, then the FCC said the companies should disconnect a customer's regular Internet phone service, but could still allow emergency calls to be made.


The agency also gave the companies a little wiggle room. It said providers who decided not to use this so-called "soft" cutoff would have to give the commission a detailed explanation as to why.

The agency's decision to extend the cutoff deadline follows a letter from a coalition of VoIP providers, including AT&T and MCI, who complained that customers would be left stranded in an emergency come Tuesday. At least 35,000 people could have been left with no service at all.

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