Who’s really trying to kill Google Voice? WSJ says AT&T

I don’t normally chuckle reading the Wall Street Journal, but I did this morning. Heck, a piece of grapefruit almost came out of my nose. If you can get past the glaring errors, an opinion piece ran blaming AT&T for the extermination of any Google Voice related apps for the iPhone. To date, no one has officially taken the blame for the shut out.

In fact, AT&T expressly said, “It ain’t us.” Okay, I am paraphrasing there. They actually said, “AT&T does not manage or approve applications for the App Store.” It’s not a flat out denial but why say anything? Apple doesn’t.

Does AT&T fear Google Voice? If so, why? The service would still have users taking calls on their cell phone at least some of the time, but 100% of outgoing calls would still be made on the cell phone and we’re all locked into voice plans anyhow. What is AT&T afraid of?

Our Editor, Iyaz says, “The WSJ idea isn’t too nuts — who has the most to lose if calls are routed away from them?” I am not so sure.

The other conspiracy theory is maybe Apple is getting into the MVNO business. Apple’s got a ton of cash they need to do something with and they want to keep a direct pipe to their customers. What if they built a data-only always-on iPod touch on the Sprint network? Users would only pay for data services and it would be VoIP heaven. Sure, many consumers wouldn’t take the plunge, but I’d bet many techies would. So is Apple scared of giving the store away to Google Voice?

I am not sure anyone really knows but the two companies holding the smoking gun. Follow the link if for just the author’s claim of the Palm Pre’s exclusive deal with Verizon (hello? that’s Sprint).

Read [WSJ]