Those of us who have watched VOIP for a while now always keep an eye out for cases where traditional voice carriers act defensively to keep people from using VOIP.
Is Apple's denial or delay (???) of the Google Voice iPhone app a (rare) case in point?
When Google asked for its new (hybrid VOIP) Google Voice mobile app to be included in the iPhone app store, did the boys from AT&T whisper over Apple's shoulder: "Hey Steve, if you're going to have VOIP apps on the iPhone that directly compete with our cellular voice plans, then why are we paying you megabucks to be your exclusive service provider? This isn't what we signed up for!" If iPhone users are able to easily make VOIP calls using Google Voice on their iPhones, they can avoid using AT&T cellular minutes, which directly hurts AT&T's bottom line.
But that over-the-shoulder whispering from AT&T probably didn't happen. It didn't need to.
More: http://pcworld.com/article/170716/
Is Apple's denial or delay (???) of the Google Voice iPhone app a (rare) case in point?
When Google asked for its new (hybrid VOIP) Google Voice mobile app to be included in the iPhone app store, did the boys from AT&T whisper over Apple's shoulder: "Hey Steve, if you're going to have VOIP apps on the iPhone that directly compete with our cellular voice plans, then why are we paying you megabucks to be your exclusive service provider? This isn't what we signed up for!" If iPhone users are able to easily make VOIP calls using Google Voice on their iPhones, they can avoid using AT&T cellular minutes, which directly hurts AT&T's bottom line.
But that over-the-shoulder whispering from AT&T probably didn't happen. It didn't need to.
More: http://pcworld.com/article/170716/