AT&T is innocent of influencing Apple to reject Google Voice as an iPhone application, it told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday.
People had speculated that AT&T was interested in blocking Google Voice as an application because it might have had an effect on phone revenues.
And, in another twist, Apple has told the FCC that it hasn’t downright rejected accepting Google Voice as an iPhone application.
Instead, it is “studying” Google’s application and has concerns that Voice alters the “distinctive” experience pople have with the iPhone because it replaces the Apple interface and the Apple core phone ability with its own.
Apple is essentially saying that allowing Google Voice on an iPhone would rather be like allowing a cuckoo to lay its eggs in another bird’s nest.
AT&T said in a letter to the FCC that Apple hadn’t asked it about the Google Voice app and AT&T hadn’t taken a view one way or another about the application. But it was looking at authorizing voice over IP on AT&T’s 3G network.
