In a recent report, some of the biggest names in Russian business environment have expressed their concerns over the growing popularity of Skype and other internet telephony services, that are operating in Russia. According to the report, these services have been deemed as dangerous to the Russian economy and a threat to the nation’s security. The report has been generated by an independent body, comprised of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s political party and various high level lobbyists, researching on the dangers posed by Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

According to many concerned lobbyists,

“Without government restrictions, IP telephony causes certain concerns about security. Most of the service operators working in Russia, such as Skype and Icq, are foreign. It is therefore necessary to protect the native companies in this sector and so forth.”

The Russian business groups are concerned that, foreign services like Skype and others, will eventually sidetrack the domestic telecom enterprises in Russia and would cause a landslide in domestic profits. As per a study conducted by Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, it has been established that almost 40% of all calls made in Russia would be taken over by Skype and other VoIP telephony services.

According to Valery Ermakov (Deputy Head, MegaFon, Russia),

“MegaFon is interested in this market. We’re interested in providing analogous services. We don’t support limiting competition, but we want the market to be civilized.”

Via Tech2.