After a two-year hiatus, Phone Watch will return this month with regular updates on the telecommunications industry.

The federal government owes wireless phone subscribers about $9 billion in tax refunds for the 3% federal excise tax charged on their bills, which was ruled illegal by a federal court today; however, the paperwork is likely to put off most people from filing for the refund, according to USA TODAY.

BellSouth and 8×8 Inc. have reached an agreement to provide Voice over Internet Protocol services under the BellSouth brand name.

With VoIP telephone service growing in popularity, many people are finding that — once connected — the service is cheaper and more convenient than their old landline telephone. However, there are pitfalls, as one Portland, Ore., area businessman learned.

The California Public Utilities Commission on Friday approved the mergers of SBC with AT&T and Verizon with MCI, with few conditions placed on the mergers.

The Federal Communications Commission established a Nov. 28 deadline for providers of interconnected VoIP services to provide enhanced 911 services to their users. It released an order Monday clarifying what providers must do if they miss the deadline.

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday approved the mergers of Verizon with MCI and SBC with AT&T, with only minimal conditions applied to the mergers.

AT&T has said that it would disconnect the service of AT&T CallVantage VoIP telephone subscribers who relocate their VoIP equipment and do not update their physical location.

Sprint Nextel, which does not have a VoIP product on the market, announced that it has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, alleging that Vonage Holdings, Inc., Voiceglobe Holdings, Inc., and theglobe.com, Inc., infringed on seven patents held by Sprint Nextel.

Wow, two bits of bad news in a day. The FCC has issued a ruling requiring broadband Internet providers and interconnected VoIP providers to provide backdoors into their networks to allow law enforcement agencies to tap conversations at will.