17 July 2007
Mobile phone company T-Mobile has been ordered to lift a block on WiFi firm Truphone's calls.
Launched last September, Truphone has accused T-Mobile of hindering its service by blocking calls to numbers that the company owns.
It believes T-Mobile is "abusing its position" by refusing to put numbers through.
Now the fledgling operator has won in the first step of a High Court battle to push T-Mobile to allow the calls to be made.
A Deputy High Court judge granted an injunction allowing Truphone to operate until the two companies reach a further agreement.
Speaking to the Independent, James Tagg, Truphone's Chief Executive, said the ruling was important for the future of the industry and customers' freedom, "as it means the existing mobile phone operators cannot use their market power to stop new entrants".
Truphone works by routing normal calls via a WiFi connection if handsets are near to a wireless hotspot.
This lets users benefit from cheaper or even free calls once they have downloaded free software onto their mobile phones.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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