T-Mobile blocks Truphone calls

T-Mobile is blocking calls from VoIP operator Truphone because it believes Truphone is overcharging for interconnection.

Truphone enables users to make cheaper calls with its VoIP client, which operates over dual mode phones.

However, when T-Mobile customers make a call using Truphone, they receive a recorded announcement saying they must have misdialed.

T-Mobile is blocking the calls because it believes Truphone’s termination rate is too high. The rate is comparable to that charged by mobile network operators and Truphone has no mobile network to maintain.

The termination fee is an amount paid to the receiving network when a call is made to a customer of that network.

Numbers issued by Truphone start ‘07′, so are clearly identifiable as mobile-rated by customers, and are billed as such by other operators.

If the Truphone customer is outside a data connection then incoming calls are forwarded to their normal mobile number, on their GSM network - Truphone then has to pay a termination fee to that network.

Truphone believes that T-Mobile is breaching Ofcom rules by refusing to accept its rates.

The company is planning to launch an enhanced service, Truphone 3.0, which provides free text messaging and delivers VoIP calls over 3G phones.