Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
I'm used to corporates avoiding curly questions with a "no comment" but Skype's response to my question on its requirements to comply with the Australian Communication and Media Authority's new rules requiring VoIP services to be able to call 00 suggests it really does not care.
To be precise, the ACMA now requires any VoIP service provider that offers calling to public telephone numbers and allows its users to receive calls from the public phone network enables those users to call both the standard 000 number and the 106 number for the speech or hearing impaired.
This means it applies to anyone in Australia taking both the SkypeOut and SkypeIn options. However the (global) Skype web site says no, in about five different ways:
- "Can you make emergency calls with this phone? You can make and receive traditional telephone calls through the landline connection, including emergency calls. Skype itself is not a replacement for a traditional phone and can not be used for emergency calling."
- "Can you make emergency calls with this phone? No. Skype itself is not a replacement for a phone and can not be used for emergency calling."
- "Can I call an emergency number (eg 112, 211, 999, 911)? No, you cannot use Skype to call any emergency services."
- Can I call emergency numbers in the US and Canada? Skype is not a telephony replacement service and emergency numbers cannot be called from Skype."
I think the answer is no! So I emailed Skype's Australian PR agency: "Under the ACMA's new rules, it will be mandatory for anyone in Australia using SkypeIn and SkypeOut to be able to make calls to the 000 and 106 emergency numbers. This does not presently appear to be the case, according to Skype's Web site. Can Skype provide any information on when it will be compliant the ACMA's rules?
The agency duly relayed the following response from Skype: "Skype welcomes ACMA's sensible approach to mandating 000/106 calling from two-way PSTN interconnected VoIP services. Consumers have a right to expect to be able to make an emergency services call from either a two-way PSTN interconnected VoIP service or a PSTN-based standard telephony service."
So does Skype comply/plan to comply/intend to disable SkypeIn&Out for Australian customers/flout the law? Your guess is as good as mine. Skype's response is simply not good enough. I shall be asking the ACMA how it intends to enforce the new rules. Stay tuned.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
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