Google Voice Violates Net Neutrality By Blocking Some Calls, AT&T Accuses
In a letter today to the Federal Communications Commission, rival AT&T Inc. complains that Google Voice is violating the agency’s so-called net neutrality rules that apply to telecommunication companies by blocking calls to some rural areas to cut its own expenses.
The new aggregation service by the online search giant allows users to manage all of their phone lines through a single number via the Internet, explains the Post I.T. blog of the Washington Post.
The FCC did not immediately respond to the allegations in the letter, which seeks an agency investigation of Google’s new service, but a lawyer for Google tells Reuters that the rules that apply to telephone companies do not apply to the Internet.
“We feel comfortable that it is not a regulated service,” says Washington, D.C., attorney Richard Whitt of the company’s new software too. “It is a service that originates from an online platform.”
Additional and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “FCC to Promote Net Neutrality, Set New Rules”
PC World: “FCC’s Net Neutrality Plan Draws Fast Fire”
Wall Street Journal: “AT&T Asks FCC to Investigate Google Voice”
Post I.T. (Washington Post): “Google Reponds to AT&T Letter; Public Interest Groups Slam the Phone Giant’s Claims”
