In response to the report written by Alorie Gilbert, "SBC frees up line to Net 911":
I think it is important that CNET's readers understand that the lack of 911 functionality from many VoIP services has been a result of their laziness--not some technical barrier. If you go back a couple years and look at the buzz coming out of VoIP companies, a lot of it was, "We'll be cheaper because we won't have to abide by normal telephone service regulations." Indeed, many aspects of their business plans are predicated on the assumption that just because they carry phone calls over the Internet, the rules don't apply to them: Taxes don't apply to them, service quality regulations don't apply to them, and 911 doesn't apply to them.
Please understand that the RBOCs were not stopping Vonage from doing this. Vonage simply didn't want to do it--and now that Vonage's laziness has cost people's lives, now all of a sudden they are blaming the RBOCs for the situation. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jawaid Bazyar
Denver, Colo.