On 2008-04-12, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in
> news:ftph56$12m$1@aioe.org:
>
>> Skype also runs on the N95, which is also a GSM phone, and has a GPS
>> built- in. Tell me again how the carrier is "controlling" it?
>
> The carrier can refuse it service by simply refusing to give service to any
> phone it is installed upon.
>
> You don't really think that just because you have a SIM card the carrier
> has no idea what phone it's plugged into, do you?

Oh, they can tell what kind of phone it is all right. They can also
probably tell the country where the phone was purchased and approximately
when the phone was manufactured. I don't see any way they could know
that a particular phone had Skype installed, but they could certainly
tell which phones were capable of running Skype.

But while there are many things a GSM carrier could do (just like
there are many things an Internet service provider, including one
providing WiFi access points, could do), the issue of what they
theoretically could do is way less interesting than the queston of
what they actually do. I don't know any GSM operator, certainly not
in the US, which seems to care at all about the particular model
or lineage of the phone you use. If it connects to their tower,
has their SIM in it and doesn't appear on their stolen phone list,
it gets service. And, in fact, blocking certain phone models
wouldn't keep Skype from their network anyway since, with standard
GSM equipment, it is extremely difficult for the operator to
tell whether an Internet connection is being used by software on
the phone or by some computer tethered to the phone. It all looks
the same from the network's point of view.

GSM carriers could control the phones, I guess, but all available
evidence says they don't. If you want to buy an N95 (there's even a
model supporting the AT&T 3G bands), and want to put Skype on it, the
GSM operators seem to be happy to take your money and provide you with
service.

Dennis Ferguson