AT and T Reverses Its Policy On iPhone Internet Calls - NYTimes.com

Looks like “open” is the latest competitive angle, for those competing with AT&T/iPhone

AT&T does allow other smartphones, including those that use the Windows Mobile operating system, to use Internet voice services. Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint do not have policies that block Internet calling. Users of Android phones can also use Skype, but those calls use the customer’s voice minutes because Google’s Android operating system is not capable of making Internet calls.

Skype says that its application for the iPhone and iPod Touch has been downloaded six million times, adding that those devices represent 10 percent of its installed base.

Separately on Tuesday, Verizon Wireless said it did not plan to block Google Voice on two new handsets based on the Android operating system.

“Either you have an open device or not,” said Lowell C. McAdam, the chief executive of Verizon Wireless. “This will be open.”

AT and T Reverses Its Policy On iPhone Internet Calls - NYTimes.com