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Apr. 14, 2009

Various sources are now starting to report that the European Union could force wireless carriers in allowing VoIP (Voice over IP) to run on their mobile networks.

Additionally, and according to a report published in Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper, the EU has already prepared draft legislation that would also open smartphones to the technology as well as traditional cell phones.

As it stands now, EU member states independently regulate blocked Internet services.

But EU telecom commissioner Viviane Reding recently said that action should be taken against mobile carriers that use their large market share to block innovative services. She was referring to VoIP when she said that statement.

VoIP allows consumers to place significantly lower-cost phone calls than those placed over traditional cellular networks.

Wireless carriers in Europe view the technology as a threat to their own business model and have widely banned VoIP from being used on their networks.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the coming months, and we should be able to better determine how much weight the EU telecom office can throw in its own market.

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Source: U.S. The Handelsblatt.