Skype On The iPhone - Coming Soon To An App Store Near YouWith more than 400 million users around the world, Skype is set to make their grand entrance onto the smartphone scene and bump that 9-figure subscriber number just a little bit more.

Brad Stone of New York Times reports in his March 29 blog post that this Tuesday the world will welcome Skype for the iPhone.

This is a long anticipated launch that stands to shake up cellular carriers’ monopolies on the smartphone market. Or will it?

Not likely. Just like Fring and other VoIP clients, Skype too will see itself restricted to making calls only when connected via a wi-fi network — As is the case with all VoIP clients now in Apple’s App Store. Skype and other VoIP client access to cellular carrier networks is OFF LIMITS.

Granted, how could carriers like AT&T, Softbank and T-Mobile make their quota [or fortunes] on cell-to-cell phone revenue if the likes of Skype, Fring and other VoIP clients were allowed to pump their VoIP services over the cellular network; thus allowing users to call users for next to nothing in toll charges.

The New York Times also quoted Scott Durchslag, Skype’s chief operating officer, as saying-

We think these things [VoIP clients] should work on any device, any network, at any time.

Skype, like other VoIP clients, deserve no less than unfettered access across whatever network they can be programmed to run on. Or better yet, people who use Skype and other VoIP clients deserve free and open access to the bandwidth they already spend their hard earned packet subscription fees on.

Do Apple or their contracted cellular carriers have the right to determine what apps access their cellular networks and which do not?