News

Narus Addresses the Recent FCC VoIP Ruling

August 6, 2004, Mountain View CA — The FCC’s announcement earlier this week about how it intends to move forward with rules that enable the same type of law enforcement surveillance for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as those currently used for mobile and landlines, has brought the telecommunications sector once again to the foreground of public interest. With its sights firmly set on the latest hot communication technology, Wednesday’s FCC vote has some worried that fast-growing VoIP services could be harmed by excessive regulation. And, with an estimated 17% of North American phone lines anticipated to be replaced by 2008 (Gartner Inc.) and the Internet calling market forecast to increase to $776.9 million by the end of next year (In-Stat/MDR), this concern is understandable.

However, while the exact rules for VoIP monitoring and lawful intercept are still to be determined, based on feedback from the Department of Justice and the FBI, this week’s news is unlikely to come as a big surprise to many telecommunication carriers.

The reality is that these capabilities actually exist today and the core technology needed is already embedded within the networks of most communications providers. For example Narus, who provides a carrier-class IP platform and various IP applications for the largest, most profitable networks in the world, has been offering this specific VoIP capability since 2001. Since that time Narus has worked with many world leading telecom carriers, including AT&T, T-Mobile, KDDI, KT and Telecom Egypt, to implement processes that enable the lawful capture of VoIP.

Based on Narus’ experience and in-depth subject matter knowledge, the company has also been actively working with the FBI to help them understand and address the lawful application of intercept with the many forms of Internet-based digital (packet-mode) communications – such as VoIP.

From Narus’ perspective, there are several reasons why this week’s FCC announcement should be embraced rather than viewed with skepticism, including:

A clear need for LEA’s to be able to capture digital communications such as VoIP, email and instant messaging (IM) in much the same way as they do for landlines and mobile. Surveillance measures will help to identify and prevent fraud, misuse and other criminal activity.
There is nearly no additional cost or application impact, as proven by the deployment of Narus’ own IP Platforms in global carrier networks. In fact these systems are capable of supporting multiple services that provide a real return on investment from billing for data services, analysis of network efficiencies and performance, and early warning of security events such as worms, DDoS and hacking.
IP monitoring is easily enabled.

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About Narus, Inc.

Narus software solutions provide the real-time traffic insight essential to profitably manage, secure and deliver Services over IP. Today, large IP-based networks are transforming the traditional circuit-switched world of telecommunications into a dynamic, ever-changing world of IP-based services such as VoIP, IPTV and others. In order to secure, monitor, bill and provide excellent quality of service for these IP-based offerings, service providers must simultaneously capture, normalize and correlate IP traffic across all layers of the network. Only NarusInsight is capable of providing companies with the means to capture, normalize and correlate IP traffic at the speed required for carrier-class networks. With its patented technology and processes, Narus helps customers like AT&T, Korea Telecom, KDDI, Telecom Egypt, Saudi Telecom, France Telecom and T-Mobile in areas of network security, traffic classification and monitoring.

Media Contact

Susannah Beckwith
Schwartz Communications
T: +1 415 512 0770