The European Commission (EC) Mon. launched a consultation aimed a...

corporate network), it’s subject to conditions applicable to publicly available electronic communications services, the EC said. Those conditions differ from obligations of Publicly Available Telephone Services (PATS). However, the EC said, some issues linked to the provision of an e-communications service may “have the ‘look and feel'” of a PATS but not offer access to emergency calls. There are 2 broad regulatory approaches to such problems, the paper said: (1) Impose traditional public switched telephone network obligations on all new telephone-like services. (2) Make sure consumers are fully informed and can make their own choices about services, while encouraging suppliers to come up with technical solutions. The EC generally followed the 2nd route, proposing, among other things, that: (1) National regulatory authorities (NRAs) consider providing, on request, a standardized declaration to VoIP suppliers that decide to provide PATS, saying they're subject to the rights and duties required of all PATS providers. The declaration would help VoIP providers enforce rights associated with PATS and negotiate with other players, the EC said. (2) Member states consider recognizing that only those providers that own or control the underlying transport infrastructure are able to ensure PATS availability in cases of force majeure. (3) NRAs could require VoIP providers that include access to the public phone network to inform their customers about the impact of power failure on the service and how it’s different from traditional telephony. (4) NRAs could require VoIP suppliers that include access to the public telephone network to give customers precise information on how the provider deals with access to emergency services and caller location. (5) Market players offering VoIP-based services be encouraged to devise and rapidly implement solutions for handling calls to emergency services, transmitting caller ID and providing location information for emergency calls. The EC also sought feedback on potential interconnection, interoperability and access issues that could hamper VoIP rollout, and on numbering and extraterritorial provider concerns. The document will be reissued after the public comment period as non-binding guidelines, the EC said. Comments are due Aug. 31 -- infso-b1@cec.eu.int.