My name is Glenn Marschel. I am the CEO of NetNumber.com,
one of three participants in the Pulver/Peek/Marschel ".tel" application. I'd
like to thank the Berkman Center for the extremely high ranking that they gave to
the Pulver/Peek/Marschel application and I'd also like to the thank the ICANN review
committee for their even handed analysis of the telephony related applications.
I'm here today to articulate why the best interests of the Internet community
will be served by ICANN approving the Pulver/Peek/Marschel ".tel" TLD at this time.
First
some background: Economics dictate that existing public switched telephone
network services are going to migrate to the Internet.
In order to achieve
a smooth migration, a requirement exists for a global directory system that maps
telephone numbers to Internet addresses.
The industry understands this requirement.
Just recently the IETF in collaboration with the ITU published the ENUM standard
for mapping telephone numbers to Internet addresses. This standard establish
a domain "e164.arpa" as the standard and approved implementation of ENUM services
on the Internet.
In keeping with its charter of representing the interests
of the existing telephone network, the ITU has given control of ENUM services under
"e164.arpa" to the over 200 regulatory bodies that control the telephone network
today.
I think it is fair to say that the best interests of the existing
telephone network do not necessary align with the best interests of the emerging
Internet-Telephony industry.
A balance of power is required.
The
Pulver/Peek/Marschel application requests a TLD for provisioning ENUM services based
on policies that reflect the best interests of the Internet-Telephony industry.
The
Pulver/Peek/Marschel application fully supports and recognizes the role of the ITU
and each sovereign nation and their regulatory bodies in defining, distributing and
assigning telephone numbers to end-user subscribers.
Clarifying further,
we fully support the rights of subscribers to register their valid PSTN numbers in
the ENUM directory of their choice.
Nothing in this application conflicts
with this existing PSTN numbering structure. In fact, the Pulver/Peek/Marschel
solution, when fully deployed, will include an automated mechanism for linking PSTN
carriers and the ".tel" Registry insuring perfect alignment.
The ITU has
taken action to create an ENUM solution that reflects the best interests of the existing
telephone network. "e164.arpa" with its PSTN-centric policies is moving forward
today. We ask that ICANN take action now, to provide an Internet driven alternative
under ".tel".
Approving the Pulver/Peek/Marschel ".tel" TLD will accelerate the
growth of the emerging Internet-Telephony industry, it will provide choice to the
Internet community, it will drive down the costs of ENUM services, and it will provide
balance by creating an approved alternative that reflects the best interests of the
emerging Internet-Telephony industry.
Thank you for your time and consideration.