Vonage Talks FCC Decision on Direct Access Phone Numbers

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a decision about allowing interconnected voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) providers the ability to get telephone numbers directly, and offer said telephone numbers up to the subscriber base. The decision seems to have been highly regarded by VoIP providers, and some, like Vonage, recently stepped up to offer some comment on the decision reflecting this.

Vonage's CEO, Alan Masarek, offered up the comment in question, saying “Vonage thanks Chairman Wheeler, the Commissioners and Commission staff for their substantial efforts and careful deliberations on the extensive record that led to today's decision to modify the rules to grant Vonage and other interconnected VoIP providers direct access to telephone numbers.” That's a pretty clear sign about how Masarek and Vonage alike felt about the move, but Masarek didn't stop there.

Masarek also offered up some background about the decision in question, pointing out that Vonage had been on a trial version of this program from back in 2013, and had successfully completed just such a program. With the FCC now clearing the way for such a program to go into place on a wider scale, reports suggested that users could expect better overall service quality as well as the accelerated arrival of new features. Additionally, Masarek noted that cost savings for the company would also be at hand, though there was no word that the company's cost savings would translate into savings for the subscriber base.

There were likely those who believed that such a move was inevitable, and not without reason. The rapidly-increasing popularity of VoIP service in general—as seen by not only business but also residential adoption of VoIP—made it important to have enough numbers on hand to address the growing demand. With a report from the FCC itself suggesting that almost 48 million connections were, or roughly one retail local telephone connection in three was, served by VoIP just at the end of 2013, it was clear demand was high, and improving access to such services would likely go a long way toward sparking competition. The FCC's report did point out, however, that there were “a number of conditions” being put in place in part of a bid to “...protect and enhanced the security and integrity of the numbering system.” Some other conditions were also added to make sure that all the numbers provided were actually being used so as to reduce the chances of the system running out.

The demand for VoIP meant that more numbers would be required, and would be needed more rapidly. The FCC, meanwhile, seems to understand this and is providing help accordingly, a move that should prove to be good news for the regular consumer, who will in turn have greater access and better service.

There may be some as yet unforeseen pitfalls to this decision, but for right now the VoIP field looks like nothing but good news and smooth sailing, a strange but not unwelcome development thanks to an FCC decision and a market ready to roll.

Edited by Maurice Nagle