Apple refuses to display Google Voice in the Apple Store

The official Google, AT&T and Apple replies to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are out. The FCC got interested in why iPhone applications catalogue lacks Google Voice, free IT software.

The telecommunications service Google Voice lets one use a single forwarding telephone number to all the user’s phones, free SMS and international and long-distant calls with cheap rates. VoIP lets Google Voice users pay not according to calling service rates but according to less expensive data exchange rates.

At the end of July 2009 all the Google Voice’s references were removed from the Apple Store and the on-line catalogue of iPhone apps.

Gawker claims that the FCC representatives and journalists got suspicious that AT&T might have forced Apple to make this decision. Customers who signed a two-year contract with AT&T get the cost an iPhone back from this telephony provider. Reduction in users’ spending might reduce the income of the provider.

AT&T claimed, however, that it has nothing to do with the choosing of applications for the Apple Store and with Google Voice’s disappearance as well. While at the same time the company admitted that it had had discussions with Apple on the effect some applications might have on AT&T’s telecommunication capacity.

A special agreement between Apple and AT&T prohibits Apple to design VoIP-based programs working over 2G and 3G nets provided by AT&T without special permission of the latter. Earlier AT&T and Apple successfully reduced Skype’s options in iPhones. So, now one can access Skype over Wi-Fi exclusively. The same thing was required from corporations providing mobile television services.

Skype’s options over VoIP in Google Android applications were similarly restricted by Google.

Apple recognized that it was its own decision to remove Google Voice from Apple Store and noted that this program would not be missing for long.

The company says that it will keep investigating this application that substitutes some main features of the iPhone including calls, SMS and voice mail services. Also, Apple is concerned with clients’ personal data being stored on Google’s servers. The corporation wants to assure itself that this information will be used rightly.

AT&T and Apple inform that Google Voice is available for iPhone users via Safari web browser . No installation is required.

Google has sent two responds to the FCC with public and confidential information subsequently. The company preferred to hide the details of its talks with Apple and AT&T on Google Voice’s usage in iPhones.

Google’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt has recently been forced to leave Apple’s Board of Directors due to the misunderstandings. Both companies have already started to compete in the sphere of web browsers, while smartphones working on Google Android might become iPhone’s competitors.

Besides, Chrome operation system which Google’s working on might be a good competitor to Mac OS X.

Check out our latest article about cheapest voip calls. And another great article is Big business lobbyists are going to limit Skype in Russia