UK networks not clear enough about VoIP throttling and blocking

The logic behind VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) blocking is simple: networks make money from calls, and if users are making increasing amounts of calls using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services like Skype, which is free, it is inevitably going to eat into profits.

According to new technology conducted by Opinion Matters, over 18 million UK smartphones users said they would switch networks if VoIP blocking continued.

What’s most alarming, even though, is that so then over half of the people surveyed were not even aware their network was even involved in such nefarious practices.

Of course, this could be down to general technological ignorance however the fact networks are actively blocking access to services like Skype nevertheless remains. And this is what’s so irksome about the entire debacle - the networks are trying to pull a fast one.

A staggering 71 per cent of people felt their operator hasn’t communicated this practice to them formally or after a fashion that they understood how it related to their mobile phone tariff, claims Rebtel’s report.

The Internet Telephony Services Providers’ Association, the UK trade body for the VoIP industry, recently slammed Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange for being the worst offenders when it comes to prohibiting VoIP applications.

Andreas Bernstrom, CEO at Rebtel, said: ‘We keep a close eye on the factors that prevent us from delivering a fast and quality calling service to our clients.’

He added: ‘Traffic shaping is a much debated topic within the telecommunications industry and it has been brought to the attention of Berec who are investigating this furthermore to understand the extent of traffic management practices and how it affects consumers’ use of services.

The UK gets full-fat 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution

If you think this issue is bad now just wait until the UK gets full-fat 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) coverage. Things will as a matter of fact start to heat up at that time and could in the long run result in networks charging higher and higher premiums for data as traditional calls take a back seat.