London - The French regulator ARCEP’s recent move to report Skype to the public prosecutor in Paris is its latest attempt to get the VoIP provider to declare itself an electronic communications operator. Luca Schiavoni, policy & regulation analyst at Ovum comments:

“This is an example of the uncertainty that surrounds the definition and regulation of VoIP services. VoIP is exercising increasing pressure on voice revenues, and providers of these services should expect to be regulated in the same way as traditional telephony.

“The French telecoms sector keeps showing signs of strengthened competition across fixed telephony and broadband, where VoIP is increasingly being taken up instead of traditional voice services. Ovum predicts that from 2012 to 2020 VoIP will cost the global telecoms industry $479bn in lost cumulative revenues.

“Regulators must resolve the dilemma that seems to be the basis of the conflict between Skype and ARCEP: whether or not a player such as Skype can be seen as an electronic communications provider, as defined in the EC’s Directive of 2002. There needs to be more clarity in the way electronic communications services are defined, and a simplified and standardized framework where possible.

“The slow progress toward a common treatment in the EU may slow the deployment of VoIP because providers must come to terms with the different regulatory environments. Certainly VoIP is one area where a harmonized approach is desirable, and we expect such an approach to be established as telephony services gradually migrate toward VoIP technology.”