Skype Gets a Tongue Lashing

Verizon Wireless, AT&T and CTIA lashed out Monday at VoIP provider Skype's proposal to require wireless carries to open their networks to any type of device or Web application (i.e. Skype).

Source: InternetNews.com / Roy Mark

The companies, along with the cell industry's trade organization, responded to a February petition Skype filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking the agency to apply its consumer broadband principles to the wireless industry. Those rules were drafted largely with cable modem and DSL broadband service in mind.

Carriers claim the principles shouldn't be applied to wireless networks because of spectrum limitations and unique network management issues.

"The circuit-switched voice service AT&T provides is optimized for the wireless environment. Indeed, AT&T has carefully designed its network to provide optimized circuit-switched voice service, maximizing scale and cost efficiencies," AT&T wrote in opposition to the Skype petition.

"Because VoIP is not optimized for the wireless environment, carrying VoIP calls over the wireless data network consumes substantially more bandwidth than a circuit-switched voice call --- without any commensurate improvement in quality."

In its 2005 directive, the FCC said that consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice, run applications and services of their choice and plug in and run legal devices of their choice.

The FCC also said consumers have a right to competition among network providers, application and service providers and content providers.

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