AT&T to allow VoIP on its data networks

AT&T has announced that it will now allow Voice-over-IP services to run on its wireless data networks, reversing the carrier's prior stance on the technology.

Reportedly, AT&T has been considering VoIP over 3G for weeks, but has continued to limit VoIP mobile apps to Wi-Fi networks up until even yesterday, when popular digital voice service Vonage released its own iPhone app, crippled to fit AT&T's and Apple's existing guidelines.

Today's announcement has not come as a surprise, since an unnamed source at AT&T this week told the Washington Post that executives were close to allowing VoIP.

AT&T previously cautioned that VoIP would strain the company's already congested wireless data networks, and blocked voice messaging software Skype from use on the iPhone, the device thought to be the principal bandwidth hog on AT&T's network.

In an official statement this afternoon, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said, "iPhone is an innovative device that dramatically changed the game in wireless when it was introduced just two years ago. Today's decision was made after evaluating our customers' expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer."