On New Year’s Eve 2008 I felt compelled to respond to the stories being written about the Death of VoIP which lead to my recent blog post: VoIP is NOT Dead!. Since then, I’ve enjoyed many of the conversations that have continued to take place in the comment sections of a number of blogs, including this one.

My belief is the future is unwritten and if the conditions are right people will return to the space. But we need to embrace innovation and change and encourage people to be disruptive. What follows is a continuation of the conversation.

Since the birth of the VoIP industry, the millions (maybe Billions) of dollars of VoIP Telco infrastructure that has been purchased, and will continue to be purchased, has been meaningful for quite a number of companies. So in real life, VoIP really isn’t dead.

For some people, VoIP has become a word associated with “network plumbing.” And in that perspective, I can appreciate why some of my friends no longer believe that VoIP is cool.

From my own perspective, I miss reading stories about startups prepared to leverage the concept that “Voice is just an Application” and empower a new generation to communication in ways which were not possible or practical in the past. Something more than Skype and something different than Vonage. What we are missing are the totally disruptive startups willing to challenge the status quo.

The VoIP industry in America was fortunate to have been born at a time when the FCC embraced disruptive technologies. People like Dr. Robert Pepper, Julius Genachowski and Kevin Werbach under the leadership of FCC Chairman Reed Hundt did the right things necessary to embrace VoIP. Their embracing of VoIP and appreciation for disruptive technologies helped the VoIP industry grow. This growth continued under the leadership of FCC Chairman Bill Kennard.

Looking back, the VoIP Industry was most fortunate to have come of age a time when the FCC Chairman was Michael K. Powell. Chairman Powell embraced the nascent VoIP industry and made it a point to come out to the VON conferences and connect directly with our community. I enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with Chairman Powell at my VON Conferences and meeting with him in Washington, D.C. I most of all enjoyed being able to call Chairman Michael K. Powell, a friend.

Chairman Powell’s FCC embraced my VON Conferences and FCC staff members were an active part of the community. During the VON events we held a number of “Town Hall Meetings” with various members of the FCC staff. I will be forever grateful for all of the work that Dr. Robert Pepper did over the years to make sure the FCC had a presence at the VON events.

Chairman Powell’s FCC is one of the big reasons the VoIP industry grew in the United States and around the world. Chairman Powell recognized the need not to apply legacy rules and regulations to the VoIP industry. And I will be forever grateful to Chairman Powell and the FCC of 2003/04 for the fact that the “Pulver Order” was issued under his leadership.

Looking back, since Chairman Powell’s departure from the FCC, the VoIP industry in America has suffered.

One of the reasons I believe VoIP will find a new beginning in 2009 is because this is the year Kevin Martin will be replaced at the FCC. Since becoming Chairman of the FCC in 2005, Kevin Martin is the one person in America who has done more harm to the future of the VoIP industry than anyone else. If you take a look at his career as Chairman of the FCC, it was his public policy approach of taking the most burdensome rules and regulations of the wireline service and imposing it on the VoIP industry that sucked a lot of the air out of the VoIP revolution.

While the wireless industry in America had many more years to in effect “grow up”, Chairman Martin’s FCC forced the nascent VoIP industry quickly out of adolescence and into adulthood. An adulthood it wasn’t necessarily prepared to embrace at the time.

Under Chairman Martin’s rule, there was little need for a the Telcos to pay any lobbyists to convince the FCC Staffers to apply telecom laws developed for a different technology and throw such rules at the totally disruptive independent VoIP service providers. It seems as if this is something that freely happened on its own.

Ever since Chairman Martin held the open E911 hearings and used traumatic, heart wrenching stories as a way to make an example out of Vonage, I realized we were dealing with someone who was acting from their bully pulpit. In fact, when Chairman Martin used his platform to make it a requirement for all VoIP service providers comply with E911, it became clear to me that he was out to suck the air out of the VoIP industry rather than embrace it. Time after time Chairman Martin passed on the opportunity to leverage IP based platforms to deliver solutions better than what the PSTN could have offered. Instead he decided to focus a backward compliance rather than a forward looking one.

If anyone is wondering why the FCC was never seen at any of the VON events since Spring 2005 VON, it was because Chairman Martin never accepted any of my invitations to speak at VON. In fact, there was a time when no one from the FCC was permitted to attend VON under the Martin leadership.

Beyond this, Chairman Martin’s FCC failed to act on two petitions which I filed during his tenure. One was the Pulver/Evslin Petition on Post-Disaster Communications which is still relevant today as it was when it was filed on March 16, 2006. The second was the Network2 Petition for a Declaratory ruling that Interview Video is not subject to regulation under Title III or Title VI of the Communications Act. I believe both of these petitions are relevant and hopefully will be considered under the new FCC Chairman.

So why Chairman Martin has been focused on damaging the VoIP industry is beyond me. Maybe one day he will be public about it and tell all of us. I will be leading the cheer on behalf of the VoIP industry on the day that Chairman Martin leaves office.

In my opinion, the near future for VoIP in America to some extent rests on the decision of who is selected to become the New FCC Chairman and whether or not they will attempt to unwind the regulatory burden Chairman Martin’s FCC placed on the VoIP Industry. It would also matter how supportive the new Chairman will be toward communication innovation in America. With the right approach to public policy, the new FCC Chairman will be able to put a shot of adrenaline into the arm of the VoIP Industry and jump start a new generation of communication innovation.

When I look to the future, I believe we are just on the edge of the time when the true promise of VoIP can be realized. In order for these dreams to be realized, it will require a new group of people who believe in challenging the status quo, to stand up and be counted on.

While I am looking for others to join the NEW revolution, I am ready and prepared to do what it takes to continue to push for the promise of what IP Communications can offer.

So while some of my friends may declare that VoIP is Dead, I still don’t. And I won’t.

“VoIP is Dead, Long Live VoIP.”