Amidst the flurry of announcements about the acceleration of Project Lightspeed, the availability of residential VoIP services and the IPTV deal with Microsoft, SBC also publicized its plans about a new offering geared towards VoIP service providers.  Namely, in a filing made on November 24th, SBC made the FCC aware of its TIPToP (True IP to PSTN) service, which enables VoIP providers to connect IP traffic to circuit-switched network through a specially designed interface

This last announcement did not go unnoticed by folks like Jeff Pulver, Om Malik, or groups such as the Internet Innovation Alliance.  So what's the issue?  Well, FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who is known for his VoIP friendly stance, stated:

"Should we conclude that this tariff is being used to justify the imposition of traditional tariffed access charges on VoIP providers or to discriminate against SBC's competitors, the commission will take appropriate action."

Powell already has three decisions to make related to charges applicable to VoIP services.  One of the matters to be resolved is related to intercarrier compensation.  He remains committed to ensuring the commission avoids any action that might slow down the "IP services revolution". 

Even though SBC still has not made the tariff public, there is some concern that offerings such as TIPToP might block some competitors from using the tandem interconnection altogether - making it not a viable option.  These tandem connections allow the LECs (Local Exchange Carriers) to connect with each other.  Some players such as Vonage go through CLECs to tap into the RBOC networks.

SBC is claiming that TIPToP is a voluntary product that should not impact the FCC's ruling on intercarrier payments, and that it has already gotten some interest in the offering.  BellSouth (NYSE:BLS) has already been promoting a similar service since May of 2003 (although BellSouth's service converts the VoIP call into signaling traditional phone networks understand, a more complicated and costly process than what is provided by SBC), whereas Verizon (NYSE:VZ) offers a nationwide VoIP service, but it requires customers to maintain their local main lines with the company, marketing the service as a second-line replacement.

Soon, we will find out where Powell will draw the line.  The key issue is that even as a "voluntary" service, TIPToP can potentially become a back-door way to impose the access charges that were initially rejected by the FCC.