Apple, AT&T sign VOIP agreement

In a letter to the FCC, AT&T acknowledged that Apple and AT&T have an agreement to block VOIP apps from using AT&T's cellular networks, but that VOIP apps that use WiFi are OK, reports ZDNet.

AT&T and Apple agreed that Apple would not take affirmative steps to enable an iPhone to use AT&T's wireless service (including 2G, 3G and WiFi) to make VOIP calls without first obtaining its consent.

AT&T and Apple also agreed, however, that if a third party enables an iPhone to make VOIP calls using AT&T's wireless service, Apple would have no obligation to take action against that third party.

The telecom industry is on cloud nine over the monthly 10-million subscriber addition, but mobile operators are not celebrating, as usage of dual SIM-card phones is porting away revenues, with even loyal customers trying out competing operators' rates, says Business Standard.

For example, Idea Cellular posted a 0.7% decline in the average minutes of use per subscriber in the first quarter of the current financial year, partly due to the increasing use of multiple SIM cards. So too, with Vodafone-Essar. The company admits a fall in usage per subscriber, as an increasing number utilised SIMs of more than one operator, particularly in the new circles.

Idea Cellular MD Sanjeev Aga said, “We have been seeing a rise in duplication, in some cases triplication, of SIM ownership by the same subscriber. This had been happening on different handsets, but now it's moving over to single handsets.

Federal prosecutors have accused eight individuals of fraudulently obtaining $22 million worth of wireless devices and services from AT&T and T-Mobile in an elaborate four-year scheme that exploited weaknesses in the cellular providers' network, according to The Register.

Between 2005 and July this year, two of the defendants used their status as current or former authorised cellphone dealers to tap in to databases maintained by AT&T and T-Mobile, according to an indictment unsealed last week in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. They then stole the names, addresses and personally identifying information of cellular customers.

The defendants assumed the identities of these customers and obtained cellular gear by calling the companies and ordering new devices or claiming their current devices were lost or defective.