At the end of this month, the FCC (News - Alert) will be meeting with many representatives from various interested parties within the telecommunications industry to determine how to transition from federally regulated copper wire infrastructure for telephony to a regulated IP telephony system.

Studies say that only 60 percent of the population has land line phone service, and that number is rapidly decreasing every year.  Telecommunications industries have been trying to switch over to IP telephony for years, but FCC regulations have required them to pay millions each year investing in outdated technology and maintaining an infrastructure whose days are numbered.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (News - Alert) recognizes the necessity to change over away from the old copper wire system, but wants to do it in the most prudent and fair manner.  He wants a meeting with all stakeholders that will discuss the beginning stages of a series of experiments to determine both the need and the impact of the transition in order to determine the appropriate scope and sequence of stages of transition. 

It is Wheeler’s hope that few people, if any, are inconvenienced by this transition and that no one company or merchant builds a monopoly through the process.  It is also Wheeler’s hope that the dialogue will begin about specific regulations both regarding technical specs as well as protocol so that companies and consumers can all speak the same language as they explore the new technology as a standard means of communication.

Recent legislation in Michigan has made it easier for phone companies to discontinue traditional landline services.

AT&T (News - Alert), one of the largest phone service providers in the state, wishes to streamline the process to phase out traditional landline service and go to wireless or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, mostly because maintaining both traditional and newer systems is cost prohibitive.

Membership organization AARP has argued against the proposal, saying it will be a detriment to seniors and small businesses that are still using legacy fax machines and phone lines for credit card transactions.

It is obvious that even on the state level, this can get drawn out and the outcome is uncertain.  

The future of IP telephony is bright; it is unclear how fast it will expand or constrained it will be by regulation, but all parties attending this meeting are looking to IP telephony as the inevitable future.