New US Court Ruling On VoIP Internet Phone Companies

The US court ruled that US VoIP companies like Vonage or SunRocket need to pay Universal Service Fund (USF) fees. It will apply only to those Internet Phone companies that hook into the PSTN (Public Service Telephone Network - meaning the regular phones).

Currently regular phone company fees of that sort are around 12 percent of their long distance income. But since VoIP traffic is not categorized that way the FCC ruled it to be around 65 percent for VoIP companies. You can also compare that to some 37 percent of revenue that cellphone providers pay there.

In the words of FCC chairman Kevin Martin: "I am pleased that the court has affirmed the commission's action, which ensures that USF contribution obligations are administered in a competitively and technologically neutral manner on all phone providers, including interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers"

So what does it mean to an average VoIP consumer? Well, it's estimated to add around $1.30 to monthly subscription internet telephony fees. That sounds like reasonable, not making a huge difference in comparing VoIP to PSTN costs of operation.

Which Is Better - Paid VoIP or Free VoIP Internet Phone Calls?

Paid VoIP internet phone plans start at around $20 a month which comes to about $250 a year. So why would one want pay for it if you can get it for free? But before I delve into that let me notice that even with the free VoIP to landline or cell phone offers – there are usually small long distance charges with common exceptions often dealing with free promotional offers. And with many free offers going around one can keep calling for free whether PC to PC to PSTN phone or in combintions of these involiving Wi-Fi internet phone connectivity - throughout many areas of the world.

There are certain features that the paid internet phone provider might supply which a free one might not. One such feature is the 911 emergency call service functionality. This particular issue has to do with the difficulty of pinpointing a geographical location of a call that is being routed through the Internet. FCC has regulated in 2005 that all VoIP providers hooking up to PSTN network are required to comply with providing full 911 call compatibility or otherwise not to obtain new customers in areas where it is mandatory.

Sometimes there is also raised a question of a voice transmission quality difference between the two types of VoIP internet calling, although in my personal experience that has not been an issue.

Next there is the local phone number availability. Some free internet phone providers offer it as an add-on paid feature. The same may apply to extras like caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding and voice mail. Others allow you even to have more then one local number and in remote geographical locations.

If you are a business VoIP user the ability to send faxes over VoIP connection might be important to you as well. Or if you are using VoIP for conference calling with large number of simultaneous participants then it is definitely something to find out – how far will your VoIP provider be able to accommodate you with that.

The final answer to which type of VoIP is better will depend on whether you need these extra internet phone features. Also many paid internet phone providers have signup specials offering either free VoIP phone sets and/or interface boxes for regular corded or cordless phones . So if you are planning on using regular phone sets for dialing up to VoIP network that might be then also something to consider.

And if you are not depending on free long distance VoIP to PSTN offers from the free internet phone providers then the amount of time you spend on the phone can also be a factor in deciding which type of VoIP is best suite to your needs.