FCC Questions Apple and AT&T on Google Voice Rejection

Apple's rejection of an iPhone application that would have enabled Google Voice has caught the attention of the Federal Communications Commission.

According to a reprort by the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Communications Commission has launched an inquiry into why Apple Inc. rejected Google Inc.'s Internet-telephony software for the popular iPhone.

The original reasoning behind the block was that Google Voice duplicated features that came with the iPhone although Apple would not say exactly which features.

However, Google Voice is totally different than the applications that come with the iPhone. One possibility is because Google Voice is as powerful as it is, AT&T has asked for it to be removed. Google Voice makes many mobile phone services easily accessible such as changing your number, savings on SMS and receiving cheap calls. This is a blow to carriers who do not want these services to be so easily accessible or cheap.

In a letter sent Friday to Apple, the agency asked the company why Google Voice was rejected, which related applications have been rejected along with it, and what role AT&T may have played in the decision. It also asked what the difference is between Google Voice and other VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) software that has been approved for the iPhone.

Apple’s process for approving or rejecting applications for the iPhone has drawn wide criticism for being murky and unpredictable. Google Voice is a VoIP service that lets users set up one phone number and have it ring on all of their phones at once, and control which phones ring at which times of the day or week, among other things.

The FCC's request for information is part of a broader inquiry on exclusive deals between cellphone carriers and handset manufacturers for popular phones, reported the Wall Street Journal.

(August 3, 2009)

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