TeliaSonera Chokes Free VoIP Services
In an interview with Light Reading TV, Tommy Ljunggren, TeliaSonera's VP of system development, explained the operator's new strategy and pricing policy for OTT VoIP services. TeliaSonera's message is clear: If you want to use those services on our network, you have to pay; if you don't, those services won't work. [Ed note: We'll embed the video of the interview soon.]
This isn't a new idea from the European operator, but now it's starting to put this strategy into action. It is understood that TeliaSonera's majority-owned service provider in Spain, Yoigo , has started to levy such a charge. (See TeliaSonera: No Free VoIP on Our 4G and LTE Voice Lag Leaves Operators Vulnerable .)
TeliaSonera's plans for charging extra for using third-party VoIP services first cropped in May last year. The pricing applies to the carrier's 4G LTE as well as 3G networks.
— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile
Wow, this sounds like an idea from circa 2005. Do they really think they can get away with this? If Verizon or AT&T tried this, the FCC would be all over them like a cheap suit, not to mention their customers. Perhaps the regulatory context in Sweden is more friendly to SP extortion, but I bet the court of public opinion will not be kind.
I'm all for reasonable controls that reflect a true cost to the SP, such as high usage caps to deter the heaviest users, but there is just no economic justification for banning over-the-top VoIP. VoIP is just DATA! And a pretty small percentage of total data flows, at that. SPs don't have to give it priority, but they have no defensible reason to block it either.
Let's call this what it is: a blatant attempt to protect their threatened voice revenues by obstructing competitive innovation and harming their own customers in the process.