Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell, who had been pushing for hands-off regulatory policy on voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), has announced he is resigning in March. Powell made the announcement in a resignation letter sent to President Bush on Jan. 21. Powell, who had been appointed to the FCC by President Clinton in 1997, was named chair of the FCC in the first month of Bush’s first term.
“Having completed a bold and aggressive agenda, it is time for me to pursue other opportunities and let someone else take the reins of the agency,” Powell says in the statement. “During my tenure, we worked to get the law right in order to stimulate innovative technology that puts more power in the hands of the American people, giving them greater choices that enrich their lives.”
Powell had said he was going to push for a full FCC board vote on the regulation of VoIP by the end of January. The status of that vote, with his impending resignation, remains unclear. However, Jason Shrinsky, partner at Kaye Scholer and a former FCC attorney, told the Financial Times that it’s possible any pending FCC moves on VoIP maybe held back for the time being. “You effectively have a stalemate at the FCC, and nothing will get done until a new chairman is appointed,” Shirnsky said. Bush will need to select a new FCC chair.
The implementation of VoIP, being offered as an alternative to plain old telephone service (POTS), is being watched closely by the alarm industry because of its potential compatibility issues with alarm systems.
