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AT&T is allowing wider use of Skype on iPhone (RJM photo)
UPDATE: This story was updated Thursday with comments from industry analyst Julien Blin.
AT&T Mobility is calling for a regulatory light touch by the FCC on the wireless industry in the wake of official inquiries into the relationship between carriers and handset makers, such as AT&T and Apple’s iPhone.
“Our industry is highly competitive, innovative and thriving,” said AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets President and CEO Ralph de la Vega, during an address Wednesday at the CTIA, The Wireless Association convention in San Diego. “Before we begin ‘fixing’ what isn’t broken, we need to be thoughtful about the consequences.”
The remarks by del la Vega came one day after AT&T announced it was going to reverse an earlier policy and allow AT&T wireless service subscribers to use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications, such as Skype, on Apple iPhones. Previously, IPhone owners could use Skype only if they were within range of a Wi-Fi hot spot.
De la Vega's claim that the switch was done to better serve customers is disingenuous, said Julien Biln, principal of JBB Research, who was on hand at CTIA for de la Vega's remarks.
AT&T’s move comes amid inquiries by the Federal Communications Commission into the relationship between AT&T and Apple, which is currently the exclusive carrier for the immensely popular iPhone in the U.S.
The FCC is also inquiring into Apple’s decision to remove the Google Voice application from its App Store. Google Voice is another VoIP technology that allows a consumer to make voice calls without using up the minutes on their AT&T voice plans. Blin noted the timing of AT&T's announcement so close on the heels of rival carrier Verizon's move to support Google Voice on its handsets. "It is not a coincidence," Blin wrote in an e-mail to me.
Without acknowledging that the FCC inquiries prompted its decision, AT&T said it made the decision to allow VoIP on the iPhone after “taking a fresh look at VoIP capabilities on iPhone … consistent with [AT&T's] regular review of device features and capabilities.”
“IPhone is an innovative device that dramatically changed the game in wireless,” said de la Vega, in a prepared statement Tuesday. “Today’s decision was made after evaluating our customers’ expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer.”
Blin, on the other hand, argues that AT&T reversed course to keep the FCC off its back and sees "tensions" between the carrier and the commission over wireless VoIP services as well as "net neutrality," the policy consumer groups advocate and carriers and other Internet service providers oppose, which would require that ISPs treat all Web traffic the same. ISPs want to be able to provide some high value customers -- including content providers they own -- their own fast lane on the Internet.
"AT&T wants people to believe that they decided to allow Wireless VoIP to satisfy their customers' needs. Again, I personally believe that the FCC and Verizon had a lot to do with this, especially the FCC," Blin noted.
As to the regulatory climate, de la Vega cautioned the FCC not to mess up a good think by stifling a growing, thriving wireless industry with “onerous new regulations.”
In his address, de la Vega noted the number of wireless carriers in the U.S., how that competition has held down rates, encouraged innovation and served customers with faster networks. He said those gains could be threatened by additional regulation.
Blin adds another note of skepticism, observing that allowing subscribers to make calls using VoIP technology would cut into the average revenue per user (ARPU) of their voice customers.
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