Nokia Promises An Easy Way To Kill Mobile VoIP?

"With the explosion of affordable high-speed mobile
data access, operators are now being challenged to make the best possible use
of their networks, especially when peer-to-peer applications increase their
traffic load and compete with their own services," says Roberto Loiola, VP,
Marketing and Sales, Networks, Nokia (NYSE: NOK), trying to put a good face on it.

While peer to peer applications may increase network
traffic, that’s the objective of having a network isn’t it? We suspect this upgrade
is less about keeping a lid on P2P traffic so it doesn’t impact on other service
types and is more about giving operators a way to cripple free voice
applications to sure up traditional mobile voice minutes.

Source: VoIP News

Now this is an opinion piece, but one that does make a light bulb appear over my head. Why wouldn’t network operators choose to block out Skype or other services? Hell I know my campus kills bit torrent traffic, IRC, as well as port 5190 which is used by AOL Instant Messenger, popular here in the states. I’ve heard a few stories about people getting kicked off Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s EVDO service because they are using too much, even tho the service is unlimited …

The battle ground is at the carrier level here folks, they can choose to be angels and let data flow free or be pricks and shove their services down our throats. There is a reason I’ve been using T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) for the past 3 years. <3