Hamburg - Skype, the company which provides free phone services via the internet, slammed German wireless company T-Mobile on Saturday over its announced ban on skyping with the Apple iPhone.

The ban, put in place this month, has raised hackles in the technology media round the world.

Jean-Jacques Sahel, Skype's senior executive for regulation issues in Europe, said the ban had come as a surprise. He accused T-Mobile's parent, Deutsche Telekom, of suppressing competition.

Skype is a subsidiary of the US-based internet auction service eBay.

Smart phones like the iPhone are equipped to place calls from the road via the usual wireless-phone network, but calls in offices and campuses via local wi-fi networks using free services such as Skype.

T-Mobile has told users it will block the latter form of call and cancel the contracts of any users who try to evade the block.

Sahel rejected T-Mobile's argument that skyping at no charge would overload wireless local networks.

"Telekom's technical objections are completely without foundation," he said.

"Network operators should just let users decide themselves which service they are going to use," Sahel said.

He added that Skype was considering its next move, but gave no details.

Skype has made the spread of its service to smart phones one of the cornerstones of its "Skype Everywhere" business strategy. (dpa)