Chinese Skype Internet users have a new company to blame for VoIP woes. Verso Technologies (VRSO) announced a trial of Verso's NetSpective M-Class Solution to filter Skype and other P2P communications with China Telecom.

"The trial is representative of the significant opportunities for Verso's products in the Chinese market, where VoIP is highly regulated and the use of Skype software has been deemed illegal," said Yves Desmet, senior vice president, worldwide sales, Verso Technologies. "More and more countries are following China's direction in evaluating the risks associated with the growing popularity of P2P communication such as Skype, due to intense security concerns with the use of this medium for unlawful purposes and its impact on carriers' revenues and the bottlenecks their networks are experiencing. We believe that this is just the beginning of a tremendous opportunity for Verso."

The trial is for an initial city level deployment and part of a sale for the fourth quarter of 2005, subject to customer acceptance.

The trial marks the introduction of the NetSpective M-Class with Skype filtering technology, a first of its kind carrier-grade application filter for mobile operators offering a bandwidth optimization and content management tool specifically for the mobile carrier market.