Some encouraging regulatory news from Richmond, Virginia.
Legislation that would limit state regulation of VoIP service was just recommended by a Virginia General Assembly committee by a vote of 21-0. The bill (HB 1885) would close a loophole in the current Virginia law that allows the state to regulate any VoIP service that is not interconnected with public switched telephone networks.
By making it clear to state regulators that they should keep their hands off VoIP this bill reduces uncertainty for Virginia businesses and consumers and helps ensure a more predictable regulatory climate that will encourage innovation and investment in new communications services.
Other states that might be tempted to regulate innovative Internet services like VoIP should follow this new view from the Old Dominion.