Vodafone sees no long-term case for blocking VoIP

LONDON (Reuters) - Mobile phone giant Vodafone Group Plc sees no long-term business case for trying to block new technologies such as cut-price or free internet telephone services from its handsets.

British-based Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone group by revenue, said on Monday that the only way to wage war against potentially disruptive new technologies such as voice-over-internet, or VoIP, would be to compete against them.

"Are we legally in a position to put in filters against voice over IP (Internet Protocol)? Well, I wouldn't think anybody would say we couldn't do that today," Vodafone's chief technology officer Thomas Geitner told the group's annual analyst and investor day.

"But clearly building a business case around this would not be a long-term, sustainable (strategy)...Our view is we need to make sure we are cost competitive rather than trying to stop Voice over IP," he added.

VoIP market leader Skype, which was snapped up for up to US$4.1 billion by EBay Inc of the United States earlier this month, says its software -- which offers free or low-cost calls -- is compatible with advanced mobile phones.

VoIP is seen increasingly by the industry as a threat to traditional phone firms because companies such as Skype offer free services when customers make computer-to-computer calls to other Skype users. Charges apply when Skype users make calls to, or receive calls from, regular phone numbers.