Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Leahy, Kimberley Anne
Author's Email Address	kimberleyleahy05@fulbrightweb.org
URN	etd-07102006-164627
Title	Circumscribing the Public Interest in the VoIP Debate
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Communication, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Stephen McDowell Committee Co-Chair
Keywords	public interest telecommunications communication internet
Date of Defense	2006-01-18
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This inquiry evaluates claims made by stakeholders attempting to circumscribe the concepts of the public interest in the Voice over Internet Protocol policy debate using technology, competition, and the universal service as their foil. The three policy options under debate as stakeholders respond to the 2004 Federal Communications Commission Notice of Proposed Ruling-making 04-28, In the Matter of IP-enabled Services, are the layered approach, the functional approach, and, what this dissertation terms, the dichotomous approach. Each of these approaches to regulating VoIP is mutually exclusive. To help inform future policy debate on the regulation of new communication technologies, the following research questions are posed within the framework of the public interest: What interpretations of the public interest are reflected in stakeholder claims pertaining to VoIP regulatory policy and technology? What interpretations of the public interest are reflected in stakeholder claims pertaining to VoIP regulatory policy and competition? What interpretations of the public interest are reflected in stakeholder claims regarding VoIP regulatory policy and universal service? In what ways has the VoIP debate reflected changes over time regarding interpretations of the public interest? The central method of inquiry is a rhetorical analysis of stakeholder claims using techniques of issue frame analysis. It includes methods of contextual and symbolic language analysis to offer a more complete understanding of the nature of the policy debate surrounding VoIP. The literature will show how theorists recommend evaluating the frames that stakeholders seek to impose on the public interest. It provides a construct for examination of national policies driving a technology sector, telecommunications, that serves as a core component of the U.S. economy. This inquiry intends to inform future policy-making in the communications industry with respect to issues of economic competition, technological innovation and universal service. The broader purpose of this study is to inform discussion of issue framing by stakeholders regarding policy-making in the public interest.
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