The Voices of change - the regulation of voice over internet protocol services

The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) enables speech to be converted into digital signals and transmitted through the internet via a broadband connection. As VoIP services offer certain economies, it is likely that such services will attract a significant proportion of the traditional landline and mobile telephone market in the near future. The issue of the appropriate regulation of VoIP services has been the subject of intense law reform discourse. The purpose of the present article is to (a) outline the nature and operation of VoIP services; (b) consider the present regulatory framework applying to VoIP services; (c) analyse the merits of the reform options presently under consideration; and (d) submit an alternative framework for the regulation of VoIP services based on the legislative regime for the regulation of 'electronic communications services' which was implemented in the European Union in July 2003.