• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 6, 2009

Faced with pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T has dropped its opposition to Skype and other VoIP applications for the iPhone.

The company said Tuesday that it "has taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on the iPhone to run on AT&T's wireless network."

In the past, AT&T's contract with Apple required the company to ban VoIP apps for the iPhone that used the 3G network. Instead, Apple only allowed VoIP apps that ran on the less reliable Wi-Fi network.

This spring, Apple okayed a Skype app for the iPhone, but only after the company modified it so that it only operates on the Wi-Fi network. That restriction spurred advocacy group Free Press to urge the FCC to specify that net neutrality principles apply to wireless broadband carriers.

"Wireless networks demonstrate numerous anti-consumer practices that may be violations of the Commission's Internet Policy Statement," the group said in an April letter to the FCC. That policy statement provides that consumers have the right to run any lawful applications on their broadband connections.

Since then, Apple's refusal to approve the Google Voice app -- which allows users to send SMS messages and make cheap international phone calls -- sparked an FCC probe into the arrangement between Apple and AT&T. The FCC also recently opened an investigation into competition in the wireless industry.

In addition, FCC chair Julius Genachowski has proposed enacting new regulations mandating that all Web providers, including wireless companies, allow consumers to access lawful applications.

Skype President Josh Silverman praised AT&T's decision. "All of us at Skype applaud today's announcement by AT&T (in an FCC filing to be published shortly) that it'll open up its 3G network to Internet calling applications such as Skype," he wrote on the company's blog. But, he added, AT&T's decisions "are no substitute for a government policy that protects openness and benefits consumers."