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UK's Truphone Wins Injunction Against T-Mobile
An anonymous reader writes "According to CNET.co.uk, the cell-phone VoIP company Truphone has won a temporary court injunction against T-Mobile, who was accused of 'preventing the launch of the Truphone service' and 'abusing its dominant position' by not routing calls to Truphone users. This ruling could have a profound effect on the cell phone industry in the UK, as Truphone CEO James Tagg pointed out in a press release. 'The injunction is good news not only for Truphone but for every company trying to develop Internet-era services and for every consumer wanting freedom of choice and lower prices. We are determined to bring better-value mobile calls, text messages and other innovative services to mobile phone users, and it's right that we should not be prevented from doing so.'" The injunction, which the article calls an "interim judgement," isn't the final word; Truphone and T-Mobile still need to go to trial.
I surmise that the way the service works is that you can have an application on your Internet (3G or EDGE) enabled mobile phone, which can make calls to other mobile phones using only the internet connection on your end. Since in Europe, you're not responsible for the cost of incoming phone calls, this would render the calls in question totally free for the people making them.
I wonder how this plays out, given the differing models of payment for mobile phone calls in the U.S. versus much of the world, wherefore U.S. is more subscription-based, and charges both the source phone and the destination phone, while (and correct me if I am wrong) many other places prefer to have a more of a per-call charge system, where only the initiating phone is charged.
I believe certain T-Mobile contracts offer free internet access (or atleast very cheap access), as a result a (small yet) significant number of people started using a VOIP app to call each other and send text messages for next to nothing. As a result T-mobile banned/blocked this app to force people to use there service.
"I may be full of crap about this game, and I may be wrong, and that's fine." -Jack Thompson
I surmise that the way the service works is that you can have an application on your Internet (3G or EDGE) enabled mobile phone, which can make calls to other mobile phones using only the internet connection on your end. Since in Europe, you're not responsible for the cost of incoming phone calls, this would render the calls in question totally free for the people making them.
Actually, this is not true in all of Europe. In non-Soviet Russia, cell phone company charges YOU! - for both incoming and outgoing calls, just like in the good old USA. Sorry to resort to that old joke, but it is true that Russian mobile phone companies do charge customers for both incoming and outgoing calls.
Truphone is a software application that runs on Nokia mobile phones. It's designed to make VoIP calls over wi-fi networks (though it can also do so over 3G). According to Truphone's skeleton argument, T-Mobile initially allowed their customers to call Truphone numbers (which are regular telephone numbers, allocated by Ofcom, the communications regulator) but then blocked them, meaning that you couldn't (and still can't; T-Mobile have until July 23rd to obey the injunction) call a Truphone number from a T-Mobile mobile phone.
Yes, because when you're using VoIP there are absolutely no fees whatsoever involved in maintaining a working Internet connection on both ends, so of course all telecommunications companies will be ruined.
Oh. Wait. No, that's not how it works...
In the UK, all cell phones are in a different area code than regular land lines. Therefore you know which numbers will cost you more or less than the others and telemarketers know what range of phone numbers to avoid calling. I like the idea of not being charged for incoming calls and especially texts. You should not be charged for receiving a text that you have no control over. Another good system that they have over there is the pay as you go system. You can buy a cheap cell phone for about £20 and then only pay for outgoing calls and texts. The credits on the phone don't expire and you don't need a plan to keep using the phone.