Bloomberg is reporting that the European Commission, an anti-trust body of the European Union, has sent questionnaires to mobile operators that ask on the methods of blocking internet phone call traffic. Some mobile operators within the European Union have been reported to block certain data traffic, such as Skype, to protect venues from voice service. Internet phone technology allows callers to make inexpensive phone calls through the internet, and some companies fear that some of its customers are avoiding the voice service by using services, such as Skype, to make phone calls.

Although this is a preliminary investigation, I can almost see the European Commission being against mobile operators filtering internet phone traffic, because the European Union has a very stringent stance on various forms of trusts and monopoly. One can argue that the mobile operators are impeding users and internet phone “operators” from initiating a fair business, and the data blockade is clearly a move by the mobile operators to prevent the internet phone operators from emerging in a competitive market.

In the end, I think the mobile operators will be forced to shut down the data blockade against internet phone calls, but I think they will increase the price of the data plans to supplement any “losses” from the mass migration to internet phone technology. I hope the European Commission keeps a good, tight eye on the mobile operators to protect the customers. Now if we can find such antitrust rigor in the states….