Skype refuses to comply with 999 ruling

Skype has said that it will not “comply with Ofcom’s ruling” to allow users to call 999 emergency services from its handsets.

The internet telephony company said it did not believe the new regulations applied to it and says they could be " harmful" to the public's safety.

The decision to make internet telephony providers give free access to emergency numbers followed research carried out by Ofcom in December 2007.

Ofcom found that just over three-quarters of internet telephony users who cannot access emergency numbers, thought they could, or were unsure. The regulator said this could be dangerous in an emergency as people could waste vital time trying to make calls via online services before realising they were unable to.

It therfore introduced the General Conditions of Entitlement for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) which apply to all operators of internet telephony services operating in the UK.

This means that companies such as BT, Vonage and Skype, which offer services that connect VoIP calls to the public telephone network, must enable people to make calls to the UK's 999 emergency number. It also requires providers to show caller location information for calls to the emergency call numbers.

Skype has said it will not be following these rules. A representative for the company said: "At this time, Skype is not complying with Ofcom’s ruling, as we believe that it is not applicable to our software offering and in fact potentially harmful to public safety.”

However, it would not elaborate on why it believed that the ruling does not apply to it; nor why it would not be in the public's interest.

Ofcom was unable to comment on Skype’s statement but a representative said all providers were required to adhere to the rules. She said those providers unwilling to do so, could be fined up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover. Though this would be a “last resort”.

The Department of Health and Unison, the trade union for emergency call centre staff, said this was the first it had heard of the rules. No-one was available comment.