Re: Security System and self monitoring

["Jen...tel" <poleclimber@xxxxxxxxx>]

Voip providers do pay for telco lines but they paid the regulated
competition rate for access lines.  Since the FCC said they are not
phone service, they are no longer entitled to the super discounted rate
mandated to open local phone service to competition.  So they didn't
want to be regulated as a phone service but wanted the cheap cost of
being a competing phone service.  Can't have it both ways.  Damn good
the judge rule they must pay market rates and can't ride the coat tails
of competitor pricing if they also claim to not be a phone company.
Get out the checkbook.

Now Mr. Robert, 911 service is NOT free.  It cost to operate the PSTN
and every POTS and Cell customer pays to maintain it.  Voip wants to
use it, let them pay like everyone else.  Oh so they have to pay and
raise rates, gee too bad!

You said it best; it's almost as good.  But in an emergency almost
isn't good enough!  Vonage hid behind the cheap rates and didn't even
tell people that their service was sub-standard and NOT at all like
POTS service. It took the hellish attack in Texas for them to admit to
their customers that they really didn't have phone service so 911
didn't really work.  Now they are complaining (like all voip providers)
that they may not be able to meet the requirement to have their
customer's acknowledge the shortfalls in voip.  They are even
complaining that the cost to access PSTN will force them to raise rate.
 Small voip providers said they may be forced to stop offering voip
service because of cost.  Voip dodged the bullet when those folks
survived, imagine if they both died?  It's not funny but how much did
those folks save considering their ordeal?  What did they do when they
were attacked, they picked up their phone and dialed 9-1-1.  What they
got was nothing, the nothing that came with using an "unregulated
information service" over REAL phone service.

If voip wants to act like a phone company they need to pay like a phone
company. All voip has to offer is cheap rates and now they are pissed
cause they have to pay for what they were hoping would be free to them.

Just to let you know, I have high speed internet and my POTS line is
free, but I still pay the surcharges and fees associated with
maintaining the public service portion of my service.  If I have to
pay, so should voip.