From CED Broadband Direct News:

Jeff Pulver, CEO of pulver.com and founder of Free World Dialup, said he does not want to see Thursday's Federal Communications Commission order on enhanced 911 (e911) "used as an immediate tool to bring down the emerging [VoIP] industry."

He said the ruling could bring such consequences for potentially vulnerable VoIP startups that don't have the "deep pockets, resources and political connections."

The order mandates that "interconnected" VoIP service providers - those that link to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) - now have 120 days to supply e911 emergency calling capabilities.

Pulver acknowledged that the order's goal is to provide reliable emergency response systems, but he warned that the decision "could put more Americans in harm's way" if it proves to be technically impossible for VoIP providers to comply by the FCC deadline.

He also complained that the order leaves many VoIP providers at the "mercy or goodwill" of telecom carriers that control access to the emergency response network, noting that the FCC instead could have stopped so-called "port blocking" and forced the telcos to provide access to the emergency network.

In fact, the FCC has fined telcos for alleged VoIP blocking tactics, but those actions have been relegated to financial hand-slaps, or "lip-service," in Pulver's estimation. In March, for example, the FCC reached a $15,000 consent decree with Madison River Communications LLC, which agreed to refrain from blocking VoIP traffic. It was widely reported at the time that Madison River had been blocking Vonage traffic.

The Consumer Federation of America, meanwhile, expressed similar concerns to Pulver's, warning that the FCC must protect against anti-competitive practices by the telcos and ensure that the mandate is an enforceable one.

"The incumbent track record of thwarting competition at consumers' expense is too blatant to ignore. Requiring universal E-911 deployment in order to protect citizens' lives, while leaving the door open for incumbents to raise consumer prices by blocking access by competitors, would be robbing Peter to pay Paul," said Mark Cooper, the Federation's director of research, in a statement.