Q & A: CPUC's Susan Kennedy On VoIP

As regulatory issues take center stage in the Voice over IP arena, the spotlight is sure to shine a bit on Susan Kennedy, a commissioner with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). While the CPUC earned notoriety in some VoIP circles for its letters last October requiring VoIP providers to register
as telecommunication carriers, it has since taken a step back, deciding to study the issue more closely before making any official judgements.

While some CPUC commissioners still say some regulation is necessary, Kennedy herself leans toward less regulation, and says VoIP shouldn't be shoehorned into existing regulatory boxes. Instead, she says VoIP should be addressed by new, national broadband policies that would promote business while also protecting consumers.

A Democrat who has held senior staff roles for both former California Gov. Gray Davis and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kennedy was named in December to the FCC's Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Telecommunications Services, an advisory group to the FCC.

Though commissioner Kennedy wasn't available for an in-person interview, she did agree to respond via her staff to a list of e-mail questions, which follow:

Networking Pipeline: Is it necessary for the states and the FCC to be on the same page when it comes to matters like VoIP?