Frontier Communications has demanded Google’s Voice service be shut-down, in a lawsuit filed the same day the search giant opened the service up to a wider audience.
The communications firm claims Google Voice infringes a new patent for enhanced telephone services, and is claiming unspecified damages and pushing for an injunction to stop Google using the technology, TMCnet.com reports.
Google Voice unifies user’s phone numbers, and offers various features including an integrated voicemail player for Gmail accounts, SMS to e-mail capabilities, and free calls and messaging to the US and Canada.
A million users have signed up to use the service during a year-long, invitation-only, trial, prompting Google to announce in a blog post that it will now be available to all US consumers without an invitation.
However, Frontier stole Google’s thunder by filing its suit at the same time the search giant was proclaiming the success of the service.
Google has pledged to fight the lawsuit, with a spokesman telling Bloomberg that Frontier’s claim is “entirely without merit.”