Having encountered political opposition to their stance on allowing mobile VoIP calls across their network, T-Mobile Deutschland and Vodafone Deutschland have backed away from their statements that they would not sell Nokia handsets with integrated Skype software. Both operators have confirmed they are investigating the possibilities of offering special tariffs for mobile VoIP use instead of blocking the service. T-Mobile Deutschland had defended its hard-line position last month by claiming mobile VoIP overloaded its network and it didn't want to be responsible for the QoS aspects of Skype.
While these two operators change their approach to mobile VoIP, their two rivals--E-Plus and O2 Germany--have admitted they had no active plans to launch special tariffs for these IP-based voice services. E-Plus spokesman, Klaus Schulze-Loewenberg, said the operator has no plans for such special tariffs or for changing its general conditions that currently prohibited the use of mobile VoIP services. O2 Germany spokesman, Harald Maass, said although no plans exist, the operator is looking into a possible change in strategy.
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