[Barry Levine, newsfactor.com] – VoIP over 3G is coming to the iPhone. On Tuesday, AT&T announced that it had "taken the steps necessary" so Apple can enable Voice over Internet Protocol calls on the iPhone through the carrier’s 3G network. Before this announcement, VoIP on the iPhone could only work with Wi-Fi.

AT&T has allowed VoIP apps to work on some of the other wireless devices it offers over 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi.

Evaluating Expectations

AT&T President and CEO Ralph de la Vega said the move came "after evaluating our customers’ expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer."

Sometimes called Internet telephony, VoIP allows voice and video communications over IP networks such as the Internet. This contrasts to using the public switched network, through which ordinary phone calls are made.

The leading free VoIP application is Skype, which allows a user to make free phone calls to another Skype user and charges a small amount to call a regular wireless or landline phone. Various commercial services, such as Vonage, also offer VoIP. Until now, AT&T has blocked Skype on the iPhone.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Vonage Holdings Corp plans to offer discounted international phone calls to iPhone and BlackBerry users, as the Internet telephony company aims to expand beyond the residential market.

Consumers could save more than 50 percent for calls to dozens of countries if they download a free Vonage application to Apple Inc iPhone and Research In Motion BlackBerry devices starting on Monday afternoon, Vonage Chief Executive Marc Lefar said.

"It’s an important first step for us. It moves us from the home platform," Lefar told Reuters. "Over the long term mobile is absolutely a critical place for Vonage to be competing."

The service is available on any iPhone, which is available only to AT&T Inc subscribers in the United States, or any BlackBerry regardless of the carrier.

Computer-based Internet telephone services have been around for years, but mobile Web calling has come into the spotlight in recent months as Apple rejected Google Inc’s Web calling service as an application for iPhone.

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