SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today took a step in the right direction to promote broadband rollout, but there’s still more work to be done, according to the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based think tank.

“The Commission’s decision that Vonage’s Internet telephony is not subject to state regulation is a big win for consumers,” said Sonia Arrison, director of Technology Studies at PRI. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a new way of making low-cost phone calls over broadband lines.

“Hopefully the states will honor this approach and let the marketplace work to lower prices and provide choice,” Arrison said. “Broadband will only really take off when the useful applications that depend on it, like VoIP, take off.”

FCC Chair Michael Powell said that “To subject a global network to disparate local regulatory treatment by 51 different jurisdictions would be to destroy the very qualities that embody the technological marvel that is the Internet.”

The Pacific Research Institute applauds this insightful statement and supports all efforts in the direction of a hands-off regulatory approach to new technologies.

“Today’s decision is a step in the right direction for making VoIP accessible to all consumers, but the FCC needs to finish the job,” said Arrison.

“They should make sure that important new technologies like VoIP are protected from the destructive regulatory regimes of the past and any new red tape schemes in the future. That’s the only way consumers will benefit and the economy will grow,” she said.

Sonia Arrison is director of Technology Studies at the California-based Pacific Research Institute. She can be reached at (415) 955-6107 or by email at sarrison@pacificresearch.org.