Reuters: Technology News: France to investigate Skype over telecom operator status

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France to investigate Skype over telecom operator status Mar 13th 2013, 01:39 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Insight: On Facebook, app makers face a treacherous path Mon, Mar 11 2013 EU fines Microsoft $731 million for broken promise, warns others Wed, Mar 6 2013 UPDATE 1-France Telecom sees light at end of the tunnel-CEO Wed, Feb 27 2013 A page from the Skype website is seen in Singapore May 10, 2011. Credit: Reuters/David Loh Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:39pm EDT (Reuters) - The French telecoms regulator ARCEP said it had asked prosecutors to investigate Microsoft Corp's Skype for failing to register as a telecom operator. Skype has not complied with the regulator's repeated requests to register as an "electronic communications operator", ARCEP said in a statement on Tuesday. The regulator said that since Skype let users make voice calls to fixed and mobile numbers in France and around the world, it had an obligation to allow emergency calls and permit legal interception of calls when required. Voice over Internet players like Skype offer calls for free or at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional telecom operators and have been growing rapidly in recent years. European telecoms companies have had to deal with shrinking mobile bills as consumers switched from voice calls to apps such as Skype, What's App and Viber, which let them communicate for free using their mobile data plans. Microsoft was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Neha Alawadhi in Bangalore; Editing by Stephen Coates) Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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