AT&T on Tuesday said it has made the necessary changes to enable voice over IP iPhone apps to run on its wireless network.
Before Tuesday, VoIP apps would only work over a Wi-Fi network. In other words, if you wanted to use Skype to call a friend, you had to be connected to a regular Internet wireless network. Once you were out of range of that network, the call would end.
AT&T said it informed Apple and the Federal Communications Commission of its decision Tuesday afternoon. For its part, Apple was quick to react and make its own changes.
"We are very happy that AT&T is now supporting VoIP applications," Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris said. "We will be amending our developer agreements to get VoIP apps on the App Store and in customers' hands as soon as possible."
There are already quite a few VoIP apps available in the App Store, like Skype, Vonage, and Truphone, but they only work over Wi-Fi. Developers will need to enable the apps to work over AT&T's wireless network and then re-submit them to the App Store.
Of course, the application that everyone will be wondering about is Google Voice. Tuesday's decision may not have much of an effect on that situation because Google Voice isn't really a VoIP application. Google's app still uses your wireless network minutes, but the service does offer other benefits like receiving calls to a single number in multiple places.
Correction 5:15 p.m. PDT: This story initially misstated the author of the letter where quoted. It is the Free Press.
An advocacy group on Friday called on the Federal Communications Commission to require wireless carriers to allow consumers access to Skype via smartphones, as well as the ability to connect their devices to the Internet through tethering applications on their cell phones.
(Credit:
Apple)
The Free Press, in a letter to acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps, expressed concern that wireless carriers were not abiding by the FCC's Internet Policy Statement.
Earlier this week, eBay's Skype made a VoIP application available for download from Apple's App Store.
But AT&T, Apple's exclusive iPhone dealer in the U.S., apparently wants to block the use of Skype on its 3G network, according to a report in USA Today.
In the USA Today report, Jim Cicconi, an AT&T public policy executive, said the telecommunications carrier had the right to forgo the facilitation of its competitors' services. He added Skype is considered a competitor.
The report further notes an Apple spokeswoman, Jennifer Bowcock, indicated the device maker limits third-party Internet phone applications for the iPhone and iPod to Wi-Fi.
In its letter to the FCC, Free Press says:
For two years, we have followed your leadership in raising concerns that wireless service providers appear to be engaging in activities that go against the Commission's Internet Policy Statement by violating consumers' right to run applications, use services, or attach devices of their choice over their broadband connections.
Recent reports about application blocking again raise these questions. Regardless of whether any particular incident would be found in violation of the law, the lingering uncertainty surrounding consumer rights on the Internet indicates the need for the Commission to clarify its rules. To resolve any alleged ambiguity raised by parties in earlier proceedings, the Commission should confirm that the Internet Policy Statement applies to wireless service providers that offer broadband Internet access service, as has been acknowledged in prior proceedings and statements of sitting Commissioners. Furthermore, the Commission should request more information on the extent of the wireless providers' role in and their justifications for these widely-reported behaviors.
Free Press further notes the FCC should investigate the practices of wireless carriers for possible violations of the Internet Policy Statement, as it particularly relates to possible direct or indirect limits on consumers' ability to run applications and services of their choosing on their devices.
Mozilla, Skype, and Cydia have joined the EFF in trying to legitimize iPhone jailbreaking.
(Credit: Apple)Mozilla has thrown its support behind the Electronic Frontier Foundation's push to have the U.S. Copyright Office allow iPhone jailbreaking.
CEO John Lilly told Computerworld that "choice is good for users, and choice shouldn't be criminalized," in light of the dispute between the EFF and Apple over whether or not iPhone jailbreaking--the practice of modifying an iPhone to accept software from sources other than Apple--is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Last week Apple declared that jailbreaking an iPhone violates Apple's copyright and can cause all sorts of technical problems for the user in response to a petition from the EFF that iPhone jailbreaking be given a DMCA exemption.
Lilly's motivation would seem pretty clear: a version of the Firefox mobile browser, Fennec, for the iPhone. However, Lilly told Computerworld that he wasn't sure Mozilla would ever want to develop an iPhone version of Fennec even if Apple was forced to open up the iPhone. Apple offers Web browser alternatives to the default Safari browser in the App Store, but they aren't true alternatives since they are all required to use the Webkit rendering engine used in Safari.
"Given the choice, would we work on a platform where the sole company controlling it makes us unwelcome, or would we work on a platform, like Linux, where we are welcome? The answer is going to be easy for us," Lilly told Computerworld.
Two other software developers joined Mozilla in supporting the EFF's petition: Skype and Cydia. Cydia is exactly the piece of software that Apple railed against in its response to the EFF's petition, as it lets iPhone owners install applications from any source, rather than just the App Store. In his remarks submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office, Jay Freeman of Saurik, Cydia's developer, said "Cydia is now installed on 1.6 million devices worldwide, at least a quarter of which are within the United States."
- prev
- 1
- next
