Is Wi-Fi-only Skype a rip-off?
Consumer advocates are up in arms about the Skype iPhone app, saying that Apple and AT&T are conspiring to make it more difficult to use Skype on the iPhone.
When the Skype app was introduced in the App Store this week, it was apparent that something was missing: the ability to make Skype calls on either of the iPhone’s cell networks, either 3G or Edge. Since both of these networks allow access to the Internet, the Skype medium of choice, both could easily be used to make Skype calls. Making those calling avenues available to Skype, however, would mean that iPhone users could make calls for which AT&T did not collect fees.
This has begun to smell a bit like a monopolistic practice to some observers. The purpose, after all, of using Skype’s VOIP protocol is to save money, especially on long distance and international calls, using a computer (which the iPhone is) instead of a standard telephone. If a Skype user is handicapped by being able to reach the Internet to make calls via only one of three available protocols, some consumer advocates feel that the odd are stacked against both Skype and its users. According to a USA Today story, Chris Murray, senior counsel to Consumers Union, says, “Consumers will pay the price for AT&T’s blocking.â€
AT&T, and by association Apple, are on the other side of the argument. According to Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s top public policy executive, AT&T has “every right” not to promote the services of a wireless rival. Cicconi says, “We absolutely expect our vendors not to facilitate the services of our competitors. Skype is a competitor, just like Verizon or Sprint or T-Mobile.†Cicconi adds, Skype “has no obligation to market AT&T services. Why should the reverse be true?”
Murray of Consumers Union answers by saying that logic like that “highlights the urgent need for Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to clarify that the wireless Internet will be open just like the regular Internet.” His statement relates to the fact that wireless telephone is not highly regulated by the government, unlike the land-line service that it is rapidly replacing.
Apple is in an odd position in this dispute. They make and sell the iPhone, a cellular handset, not the network upon which the device’s calls are made. What Cicconi says is probably true as it relates to AT&T, but is it also true of Apple, who is the party enforcing the edict by virtue of having approval control over apps submitted to the App Store? This issue is likely to grow rather than shrink. It would not be surprising to see it wind up in the courts, which would make for a very interesting battle over control of at least part of the Internet.
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