Networks baulk at Skype on Nokia N97

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O2 and Orange have reportedly refused to stock Nokia’s N97 in protest against the company preinstalling Skype.

Nokia’s forthcoming high-end smartphone will come loaded to the brim with the latest technology and if the manufacturer gets its way will also feature the popular Skype client on the handset.

However, according to reports from Mobile Today, this has not gone down well with Orange and O2, which are concerned with Nokia wanting to “own the customer”, and being reduced to no more than a “dumb pipe”.

“We have made no announcement yet on whether will stock this handset,” O2 told IT PRO in a statement. “We are working with Nokia to understand the service and the business model. Our aim is to make people’s lives easier and we are embracing all sorts of new applications and services on mobiles.”

Meanwhile Orange told us that it “has already embraced VoIP services and is Europe's leading VoIP provider with over six million subscribers... Orange is continually finding ways to bring applications and mobile services to our customers through our own innovation or through partnerships. Because we are closest to the customer, we will only do this when we can promise the best customer experience".

3 remains that only major network to have embraced Skype on its handsets offering up both the Skypephone, which is now on its second iteration, and the INQ1 social networking phone.

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