Regulation in telecommunications intends to transfer a monopolistic market into a competitive one. In the past telecommunications regulators were used to concentrate regulatory interventions on traditional switched networks whilst packet oriented networks have been out of the telecom's legal focus.

In Europe Voice over IP was exempted from regulation up to mid 2003. The European Commission stated in a Communication dating back to 1998 that Voice over IP services do not face the same regulatory burden than other voice services because it was not in commercial use and direct transport of real-time speech was not possible.

With the EU's so called New Regulatory Framework things have been changing. The Framework states the principle of technological neutrality, meaning that there is no longer a distinction in regulation made based upon technology between switched or packet based networks and/or services. Under the new regime, Voice over IP providers and other (voice) providers have equal rights and duties concerning authorization, interconnection, access, numbering, directory entries or emergency calls. In other words, publicly offered Voice over IP is now regulated in Europe.

In the US the legal status of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services depends on the decision whether to classify them as 'traditional telecommunications services' or 'information services'. US regulator FCC has not taken a decision on whether to classify it the one or the other way. Should the FCC decide on the former classification, VoIP service providers will need to apply for licenses and to ensure that their operations comply with the same state and federal regulations as their counterparts in the traditional wire line telephony arena.