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Posted By: Marty When Will VOIP Be Legal In Belize? - 11/24/11 02:06 PM
When will Voice Over Internet known as VOIP be legalized in Belize?

That's what many have been asking for years. Critics argue that, in the modern era, it's hard to do business without VOIP.

But regulators maintain that introducing VOIP would strip earnings away from phone companies like Telemedia that have to invest in infrastructure for the country's entire telecommunications network, while VOIP only benefits those who use it.

But, the pressure on this government - as was the case with the last - is enormous.

And today the PM said that yes, VOIP is on the event horizon, just not right now:

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"There is no doubt in my mind that Telemedia will, in the fullness of time, be offering VOIP-driven services. I know that income in this current year is going to go down a little because of things like the increase in, by way of the 1010-199 utilization - utilization of that number so that people get low rates on international calls. There is a continuum that we are looking at, and that continuum I'm saying, will inevitably include VOIP. It's just a matter of timing. The company will take a hit, very clearly in terms of its revenues, but the consumer is king; the Belizean citizen is boss; and so I acknowledge freely the inevitability of the coming of VOIP. To some extent, if I can be a little bit facetious, soon as you hear the announcement of the coming of VOIP, expect the following day the announcement of the date for the general elections."

Channel 7

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