“The
ban will be imposed both on the Android and Apple iOS platforms. We have not
yet heard from Viber whether it will bring the case to the higher court. The
lawsuit came as Viber evidently infringed our patent rights”
Spokespersons for SK
Telecom commenting on their Patent Case win against Viber with regards to
bypassing their Network
VoIP
and IM (Instant Messenger) App Viber is in big trouble in South Korea.
They’ve
lost a case against South Korean Telecom Provider SK Telecom with regards to synching
smartphone Contact list and associates Call and Messaging data into the Viber
App as noted in the article “Viber
Faces Ban In Korea As SK Telecom Wins Potentially Wide-Ranging Patent Suit”,
published Feb 24, 2015 by Jon Russell, Techcrunch.
Basically,
this ruling simply means that Viber, which terminates calls made through its
app on Local and International landlines and mobile phone numbers, could
potentially be banned from operating in South Korea.
Good
to note that SK Telecom isn’t saying that the popularity of the VoIP App that
also does IM (Instant Messaging) is cutting into their Voice revenues. By going
after the obvious patent infringement, it makes it easier to mask their true
intentions as noted in the coy statements by SK Telecom in the article “South
Korean mobile operator wins patent suit against Viber”, published February
23, 2015 By Eileen Yu, ZDNet.
This
is hauntingly similar to the complaint by Telecom Provider Digicel with regards
to Viber and Nimbuzz clogging their Network with Voice Traffic and not paying
to Terminate Voice Calls as noted in my blog article
entitled “Digicel
blocks VoIP Services Viber and Nimbuzz in Haiti - Digicel losing International
Calling Revenue but will be worse when WhatsApp comes”.
SK Mobile wins Patent
Case against Viber – Why 4G LTE and VoLTE will have to compete against VoIP
Apps
The
truth is, in BOTH cases, the Telecom Providers were losing revenue due to users
of the App being able to terminate calls without paying Toll, cross-connection
or Termination charges to complete calls on Local and International landlines
and mobile phone numbers.
By
going after a patent and not their obvious bypass, they're basically avoiding
looking anti-competitive in the eyes of the public while potentially setting up
a situation with this vague patent infringement where they can use the case as
a legal precedent to go after other VoIP Providers.
So
expect Kakao's KakaoTalk, with some 37 million users to be in their Crosshairs,
with Viber, being much smaller fish, as a mere test run to see if going after
this vague patent infringement can also be used against KakaoTalk.
Based
on a similar case here in Jamaica with Telecom Provider Digicel and LIME where
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell gave the
Telecom Providers the green light to block VoIP that weren't registered to
operate like normal Telecom Providers as noted in my blog article
entitled “Minister
Paulwell says VoIP Providers must Register to Terminate - Why WhatsApp may no
longer be Free as IXP by January 2015, MNP by May 2015”.
But
how long will this last?
With
4G LTE Networks being deployed globally, giving more bandwidth for these Data
hungry VoIP Apps to play as argued in the case of WhatsApp going VoIP in my blog article
entitled “WhatsApp
VoIP Calling in Second Quarter of 2014 - WhatsApp kills International Calling
at the Advent of Facetime-eqsue Premium Video VoIP Calling on smartphones”,
how long can the Telecom Providers delay the inevitable?
After
all, their popularity might now spark persons withdrawing their services. But
they can complain to their relative Regulatory and Consumer Affairs advocates
with regards to a lack of Network Neutrality. That is to say, the Telecom
Providers are deciding what Traffic can be on their Network.
Such
protest aren’t vocal now, but will become so once VoLTE is introduced and it becomes
clear that the Telecom Providers are trying to re-ensnare customers in their
Metered Billing Services again,. Despite having paid for their Data to do with
as they believe they have a right to do.
A
case worthy watching......worlds away in the South Korean Telecom Market!
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