Federal court denies VoIP 911 stay request
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week denied an emergency motion for a partial stay of the FCC’s E-911 order requiring voice-over-IP service providers to provide E-911 service by Nov. 28.
Four VoIP providers—Nuvio, Lingo, i2 Telecom and Lightyear Network Solutions—agree with the portion of the FCC order that requires the companies to proactively inform customers that their VoIP 911 services differ from traditional 911 offerings from traditional telephony carriers. However, they do object to the Nov. 28 deadline for implementing a nationwide solution.
An FCC public notice issued earlier this month provided some relief to VoIP provider by letting them keep current customers, it discourages companies from marketing VoIP services in areas where they do not offer E-911 services. Nuvio CEO Jason Talley has said that’s very damaging to the VoIP providers, especially because access to selective routers—typically owned by the incumbent telecom carriers competing with VoIP providers for customers—is a significant barrier to providing E-911.
Talley indicated that Nuvio will continue to pursue legal action.
“While I’m greatly disappointed in [the] decision by the U S Court of Appeals, I am heartened by the fact that the court’s decision did not address the substantive issues in this case,” Talley said in a prepared statement. “We will still proceed with our appeal and still believe that the FCC’s E911 Order for VoIP Service Providers is arbitrary and capricious.”