VoIP subscriptions are split broadly into two categories:
1. Service to end users provided without also supplying last-mile facilities. We’re calling these, Over-the-top Subscriptions. This includes subscriptions sold by providers that do not also supply (that is, do not sell to the end user) the connection that delivers the VoIP service.
2. Service to end users provided over last-mile facilities supplied by the provider. These are simply All Other Subscriptions and represent everything that’s not captured in Over-the-top Subscriptions, including:
a. subscriptions sold by providers that do supply the connection that delivers the VoIP service but don’t also sell Internet access service to that end user; and
b. subscriptions sold to end users that also purchase Internet access service such that the reporting provider (including affiliates) sells both services to the end user.
Another way to think of this is that interconnected VoIP service requires a high-capacity, or broadband, connection from the end user’s location. That high-capacity connection may, or may not, also be delivering Internet access service to the end user. In this section of the form, count a subscription as an Over-the-top Subscription if you (including affiliates) do not supply (that is, do not sell to the end user) the high-capacity connection that terminates at the end user’s location and carries the interconnected VoIP service. If a subscription is not an Over-the-top Subscription, count it among All Other Subscriptions.
Grand Totals, by End-user Type
The interface has done some of the work here by tabulating the tract-level data you’ve already submitted, and entering the state-level values in the appropriate cells. Nothing to do here, but note that everything needs to add up when you’re done.
Grand Total, Total must equal Over-the-top, Total + All Other, Total
Grand Total, Consumer must equal Over-the-top, Consumer + All Other, Consumer
Over-the-top Subscriptions
For this part, enter the Total number of subscriptions provided to end users without also supplying last-mile facilities, and the number of such subscriptions provided in Consumer or residential service plans. The interface will calculate the number of Business/Government subscriptions as a residual.
If all of your subscriptions fall into this category, then you’re nearly done. Because the interface will check the math when you save your work.
All Other Subscriptions
Distribute All Other Subscriptions in the following ways:
- by End-user Type: Enter the Total number of subscriptions provided to end users over last-mile facilities you supply, and the number of such subscriptions provided in Consumer or residential service plans. The interface will calculate the number of Business/Government subscriptions as a residual.
- by Services Sold: For Voice with Internet, enter the number of subscriptions where you (including affiliates) sell voice and broadband Internet access service to the same end-user customer. It does not matter if the two services are billed separately or if they are billed by different affiliates. The filing interface will then calculate the number of subscriptions for Voice without Internet—that is, without the end user also purchasing broadband Internet access service—as a residual.
- by Last-mile Medium: As mentioned above, All Other Subscriptions are subscriptions for which you (including affiliates) also supply / sell the end user with the high-capacity connection that delivers the interconnected VoIP service. That high-capacity connection could be last-mile facilities you own or it could be last-mile facilities you lease from an unaffiliated entity. In either case, count these subscriptions according to the technology of the high-capacity connection that terminates at the end user’s location.
Total must equal FTTP + Coaxial Cable + Fixed Wireless & Satellite + Copper
Note on Technology/Last-Mile Medium for Interconnected VoIP Subscriptions: Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) requires an optical termination at the end-user premises; Coaxial Cable is the typical infrastructure used by cable television system operators, and it includes hybrid fiber-coax distribution plant; and Fixed Wireless, in this context, includes any type of wireless spectrum equipped to deliver fixed voice service to the end user’s premises.