Mobile messaging provider Nimbuzz said Monday that it has been asked by Skype to remove all of its Skype support, making Nimbuzz the second third-party mobile client, after Fring, to get the hammer from Skype.
"Skype's decision is unfair to its own and our users," Evert Jaap Lugt, chief executive of Nimbuzz said in a statement.
Skype, for its part, said it's keeping tighter rein over china phone clients than over desktop software. "Our APIs and SDK are designed for third-party hardware and desktop software application development," Skype said in a statement.
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Skype seems to be protecting the company's relationships with specific mobile operators. "We only work with mobile operators and handset manufacturers committed to delivering the best Skype user experience, as we've shown with 3, Nokia, Verizon and, most recently, KDDI," Skype's statement said.
Nimbuzz has another theory, one that Skype didn't support in its own statement. "The move is understood to be in line with Skype's mandate to disconnect with all third-party VoIP services ahead of its impending IPO," Nimbuzz claims.
Skype's relationship with Verizon here in the U.S. initially kept the Skype BlackBerry and Android clients from being available on any other carrier, although Skype is also available for the hiPhone on AT&T. Recently Skype released a Wi-Fi-only version of its Android software for non-Verizon users.
On Skype's part, the company said it offered to discuss the issue with Nimbuzz but haven't heard back from the other company since August.
There's no widely accepted standard for VoIP and video chat over china mobile phones. While there are many clients for the open SIP standard, the proprietary Skype, Fring, Nimbuzz, Apple FaceTime and Line2 systems all have their adherents. Apple has proposed FaceTime as an open standard, but as yet, no other party has joined up.
