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Musings on funding

Musings on funding. Henning Schulzrinne Columbia University. Funding – many different facets. Easy to talk past each other People talk about: incremental investment for supporting VoIP (as in wireless)

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Musings on funding

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  1. Musings on funding Henning Schulzrinne Columbia University

  2. Funding – many different facets • Easy to talk past each other • People talk about: • incremental investment for supporting VoIP (as in wireless) • note: if number of wireless + analog subscribers stays roughly constant, total 911 call volume unlikely to change much • on-going support of operational costs • as landline and wireless revenue decreases • making VoIP users pay for 911 • fairness, long-term sustainability, slowing down competition, …

  3. Some general ideas • Avoid technology-specific funding models • wireless vs. wireline vs. VoIP • converging long-time  don’t want to re-do every few years • long regulatory lag • may be necessary for transition period • Don’t assume VoIP = wireless • VoIP: “carrier” doesn’t have to exist • every mid-to-large size business is likely to be its own VSP • VSP may be outside the United States (particularly if regulatory compliance becomes expensive) • Many more VSPs than the few national wireless carriers • Avoid systems that invite fraud and padding • see e-stamp program for schools and libraries • Keep collection costs reasonable • already, taxes approaching 20% of phone bills • tempting – since costs are borne by consumers, not 911 system

  4. Make it easy to do the right thing • Even small VSPs are likely to have customers in many, if not most, states • Don’t force every VSP to send $13.75 monthly checks to 3,000 counties or 6,000 PSAPs • worse: with different rates, line-count cut-offs, etc.

  5. Look at all options, not just existing familiar ones: state/local taxes VSP fees ISP fees utility (water, electricity) fees equipment charges 911 as service State or local taxes already fund police, fire, ambulance already fund large parts of 911 in some states existing collection mechanisms (mildly) progressive other mechanisms penalize large families, for example but: easy to forget about niche needs The design space

  6. Source: VSP and ISP charges • VSP: • may have sparse customer population • unlikely to be regulated • may be outside the US • may be difficult to map customers to tax regions • users could have any number of VSPs (particularly if they offer different services, on-demand international dialing, etc.) • ISP (facilities-based): • generally, more regional (or large, like ILECs and MSOs) • has knowledge of physical location of customer • usually, finite number of ISPs per customer • but: penalize users with multiple ISPs • or users that don’t use their ISP for emergency calls or VoIP at all • charge modem users, too? • ISP (resale): • common for modems  few ISPs own their own infrastructure • resell dial-in access using shared equipment • similar problems as VSP

  7. Source: Utilities • Other utilities (water, gas, electric) • most households have at least electric service • and usually one of each • regulated utility • already collects franchise fees and similar locality-based taxes • knows customer service location • you need electricity to place a VoIP call 

  8. Source: equipment fee • Collected when purchasing VoIP devices • Similar to tape and CD-R charges today • Avoids tax collection problems • Problems: • assumes only voice as service (not bad for mid-term) • assumes few softphones • if fees are large, encourage black imports • but shipping charges discourage shipping phones from Europe and Asia one by one • estimate: 50c/month  $24 for expected 4-year lifetime

  9. 911 as service • Even if VSP or ISP does not offer 911 service, user could separately subscribe to specialized VSP that offers only emergency calling service • relatively easily implemented technically • but more difficult with “locked down” equipment • Probably only a transition scenario • “911 service for $9.95/year – we take Visa and MasterCard” • service then sends money to 911 system • credit card address as first-order approximation to service location • probably need some kind of certification that service is legitimate

  10. Conclusion • New technology = new chances for a more rational design of funding • Need solid estimates of incremental costs • Don’t penalize jurisdictions that fund via general revenue

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