Fergie's Tech Blog

China Telecom Blocks Skype

Via Red Herring.

China Telecom, China’s largest telecommunications carrier, has begun blocking VoIP calls in an effort to stanch the massive loss of revenue it could sustain if a substantial percentage of that country’s 100 million Internet users switch their long-distance calling to Skype.

Reuters cited media reports and Internet postings as the source of its information that the former monopoly carrier has begun blocking Internet users from accessing Skype’s voice services in the city of Shenzhen.

The news service also cites a report in the Shanghai Daily that China Telecom plans to block Skype’s service throughout the country, eventually.

News reports said the carrier, which owns a large broadband network and controls a large network of ISPs, has created a “blacklist” of Skype users in Shenzhen and threatened punitive action against those who try to circumvent the carrier’s Skype blocks.

But is the blocking solely about slowing the drain on the carrier’s revenue, or are there national security issues that concern the Chinese government?

posted by Fergie @ 9/09/2005 12:07:00 PM