Michael Powell’s reign at FCC maybe coming to an end, but the man is doing his best to lift the fortunes of voice-over-the-internet service providers. Today FCC approved direct numbering for VoIP service providers, though the petition was filed by SBC. This is one way of keeping the states from meddling with VoIP.

In essence, the Federal Communications Commission gave SBC permission to get telephone numbers directly from their official source–a privately run, quasi-government agency known as the North American Numbering Plan Administration. It’s a much cheaper alternative. Before the FCC’s action, only those Net phone providers certified by states could approach the agency directly.