The Members Forum

What happens when a major mobile operator gets tired of people ditching voice calls and text messages for cheaper Skype calls and instant messaging? It just blocks those services and charges a monthly fee to access them.

It has long been clear that Internet providers, especially in mobile, would much prefer offering pay TV-style "packages" or services rather than one-price access to an Internet data pipe. "Want access to Facebook? Ah, that's part of our 'premium gold' plan."

Hardware makers have long enabled the dream, hoping to sell more of the deep packet inspection (DPI) gear that can analyze user traffic and slot it into various silos and service offerings. Last year, for instance, we reported on a presentation from DPI company Allot in which it showed how a subscriber could be charged 2¢ per megabyte to access Facebook, a couple bucks a month to access Skype, or 50¢ a month for 60 minutes of YouTube videos.

Dominant Dutch wireline and mobile provider KPN, which offers services across Western Europe, has taken the idea to heart. The company has just announced plans to charge mobile phone users separate fees for using voice-over-IP (VoIP) services like Skype, instant messaging programs, and streaming video. Specific new rate plans haven't yet been announced.

"Services such as browsing, using mobile VoIP, instant messaging and watching videos will get their own price tag, just as it is now with calling and sending an SMS," a company spokesperson told Dutch site Tweakers.net. The story has been widely covered this week in the Dutch-language press, with KPN being unusually direct about what it's doing and why.

With SMS and voice calls declining, KPN has decided that differential rates for Internet services will help it maintain current revenue levels. Dutch regulator OPTA has already said publicly that it's fine with the move, so long as KPN is transparent about how it charges. In fact, an OPTA spokesperson said she would "cheer such a development," since it provides more choice for consumers to put together a subscription package that meets their needs.

ARS Technica has the article HERE!