AT&T Will Allow VoIP Calls From Apple's iPhone
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AT&T has removed barriers to VoIP calls on Apple, Inc.'s iPhone. Until now, AT&T had blocked the Skype app for the iPhone from using its 3G network, although VoIP calls could be made by Wi-Fi. AT&T has argued that VoIP calls hogged the data channel, but pressure from the FCC may have helped remove barriers to 3G VoIP on Apple's iPhone.
VoIP over 3G is coming to the iPhone. On Tuesday, AT&T announced that it had "taken the steps necessary" so Apple can enable Voice over Internet Protocol calls on the iPhone through the carrier's 3G network. Before this announcement, VoIP on the iPhone could only work with Wi-Fi.
AT&T has allowed VoIP apps to work on some of the other wireless devices it offers over 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi.
Evaluating Expectations
AT&T President and CEO Ralph de la Vega said the move came "after evaluating our customers' expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer."
Sometimes called Internet telephony, VoIP allows voice and video communications Relevant Products/Services over IP networks such as the Internet. This contrasts to using the public switched network, through which ordinary phone calls are made.
The leading free VoIP application is Skype, which allows a user to make free phone calls to another Skype user and charges a small amount to call a regular wireless or landline phone. Various commercial services, such as Vonage, also offer VoIP. Until now, AT&T has blocked Skype on the iPhone.
Because Skype-to-Skype calls are free, and Skype-to-phone calls are very cheap, the Skype application has been seen as a key driver in lowering the cost of voice calls. Because of this, carriers are trying to add as many non-voice, paid services as possible. Even with Skype on the iPhone, however, the user must still subscribe to a wireless data Relevant Products/Services plan.
'Surprised and Not Surprised'
Bill Ho, an analyst with Current Analysis, said he was "both surprised and not surprised" by AT&T's announcement. He said he's surprised because carriers have made "the technical argument that VoIP calls occupy the entire data channel" and it was better to keep the data channel open to be used for other things as well. But, Ho surmised, "technology marches on, and apparently they've found a way to do this" that doesn't hog the data channel.
The reason he's not surprised, he said, is that "there has been so much pressure from the Federal Communications Commission and the media to be able to do this. "VoIP over 3G on the iPhone," Ho said, opens up "a whole universe of other AT&T phones" that might also get VoIP.
Recently, the FCC has been looking at whether network-neutrality principles, which it wants to apply to any Internet access or bandwidth provider, should also apply to wireless data providers such as AT&T.
Network neutrality means, among other things, that an Internet service provider cannot pick and choose which Internet services and sites to carry. AT&T has opposed applying net-neutrality rules to wireless networks.
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