Sprint Nextel loses VOIP deal

Time Warner Cable, over the next four years, will wind down its deal with Sprint Nextel for voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services worth more than $500 million per year, reports Multichannel News.

Time Warner Cable spokesman Justin Venech says: "It makes economic sense for us to bring this in-house.”

Analysts predict the end of Time Warner Cable's VOIP business could cut Sprint's annual wireline profits by $250 million, or 25% of earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortisation.

The UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority is set to reveal its VOIP policy, which will bring down call charges for consumers and open telecom markets, states Emirates Business 24/7.

Skype's chief executive says the UAE's block on its service was short-sighted for a country built as a trade and immigration hub, but adds Skype is open to discussions with the government.

Jean-Jacques Sahel, Skype director for government and regulatory affairs, says: “We are seeing a shift in attitude towards VOIP. Operators consider it safe and realise that VOIP helps bring prices down for both voice and video calls across continents."

VOIP mobile phone services provider Vox Communications has unveiled an unlimited mobile VOIP service on the Nokia N900 smartphone, says Trading Markets.

The N900 uses the Linux Maemo operating system; an open source platform that enables the Maemo community to develop and modify software.

Vox is currently selling the N900 with a service plan and anticipates it will release a software download of its VOIP product.