By Herman Lai, posted Jan 4, 2011 at 12:06 PM, 974 views,

China Banned Skype By Setting Up New VOIP Regulation

Not only Skype, but any third-party VOIS (voice-over-Internet protocol) services won’t be able to take a step forward to operate its service in China unless they are provided by China Telecom and China Unicom.

The news were heard after Skype announced 3G video calls for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, somewhat unrelated to the decision of blocking VOIP service but in some way restricted the company expanding their formation in China.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has ruled that all VOIP services are now illegal on the Chinese mainland, probably is aiming to protect state-owned telecom provider aside from foreign competitors.

Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., said he was unaware of the development, but added that it sounded consistent with the government’s prior actions. “The Chinese government regulates the Internet according to its laws and by following international standards,” he said.

Skype is currently not banned in China, a Skype spokeswoman said. Chinese Internet users can continue to use the service via the company’s joint-venture partner TOM Online Inc., of Beijing, the spokeswoman added.

Source: WallStreetJournal, TheNextWebz