Google Inc.'s (GOOG) new "Google Voice" phone management service is an innovation destined to draw scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission as the agency struggles to reconcile rotary-phone-era rules for iPhones and Blackberrys, government and industry officials said.

Google is still testing the free voice service that allows people to link all of their phones to a common number and manage calls and messages through a website.

The FCC's first look at Google Voice came earlier this year, when the commission asked why Apple Inc. (AAPL) rejected the application for the popular iPhone. Apple said it is still considering Google Voice for its iPhone application store, a response that appears to be satisfying regulators for now.

But Google Voice is one of many new phone services that raise questions about how they fit into the heavily regulated phone industry.

Google argues that its Voice application isn't a traditional phone service and shouldn't be regulated like other common carriers. The company is pressing forward even though regulators have yet to determine how traditional telephone regulations apply to these new services.

"There may be an absence of regulatory certainty, but we're not going to sit on what we think is a highly useful and innovative service," said Richard Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel.

One issue for the FCC: Google reserves the right to restrict calls to certain telephone numbers, such as adult chat lines or free conference-call centers, that have overly high access charges.

Traditional phone companies such as AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), and Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) aren't allowed to block those kinds of calls. Those companies could cry foul if newer phone services like Google Voice aren't given the same treatment.

Several years ago, AT&T and others tried blocking calls to lines with inflated access charges. They were rebuked by the FCC, which said common-carrier phone companies can't pick and choose the numbers they will patch through and those they will block.

Verizon, AT&T, Qwest, and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) all have protested smaller carriers' ability to route popular numbers through high-cost areas, forcing them to pay several times the average rate for connecting customers' calls.

Google is in a different position from the wireless and landline companies because its voice service is free, and it doesn't replace a traditional phone service. Google Voice compiles an amalgam of features using the Internet, mobile data networks and voice connections, which all are subject to different rules.

Google may be pushing the boundaries in terms of how people think about using telephones, but Bell-era phone companies will push back if their business is affected.

"It's not clear where Google Voice fits on the regulated-versus-unregulated services," said Paul Gallant, a telecom policy analyst at Concept Capital. "At some point, carriers may press the FCC to start regulating apps that take market share from carriers' regulated services like basic voice."

FCC Senior Counselor Colin Crowell said the agency will be data-driven and consumer-oriented in its approach to new services like Google Voice. "We're moving to a broadband world and we want to maximize innovation and investment in the space," he said.

The FCC faced a similar quandary several years ago when it confronted the first Internet-based phone services like those offered by Skype or Vonage Holdings Corp. (VG). The FCC said in 2004 that voice-over-the-Internet phone services, or VoIP, aren't subject to state regulations, but it didn't offer much clarity in terms of how federal regulators should look at VoIP services.

Since then, the FCC has imposed some obligations on VoIP companies, like requiring them to connect emergency 911 calls.

Crowell noted the FCC also has made sure new phone services like VoIP meet the traditional phone standards of universal service and consumer privacy.

FCC and industry insiders say regulators have been reluctant to subject newer phone services to traditional rules for fear of squelching an emerging technology.

Whitt said it would become "a real challenge" to justify Google's investment in Google Voice if the FCC declared it was subject to common carrier rules. "Imposing legacy common carriage requirements would be unfortunate not just for Google Voice, but also for lots of innovative companies, large and small, who are using the Web to revolutionize the way people communicate with each other," Whitt said.

Regulators are likely to take a forward-looking approach when addressing outdated phone rules, keeping in mind that all phone service will be Internet-based in the future.

-By Fawn Johnson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9263; fawn.johnson@dowjones.com