China's focus on limitations of VoIP could be more strategic than political, noted Gartner analyst Ron Cowles. "China is known for having firm control on its industries, and on the telecom industry in particular," he said.

Voice over IP technology has been banished from the Kingdom for two years which could mean problems for companies like Skype, that had hoped to gain traction in the country with Internet telephony services.

Although Skype had been making moves indicating its desire for expansion, including the deal with Tom Online, the company has seen resistance in China for at least the last six months as China Telecom block stopped VoIP calls to standard telephones, leaving computer-to-computer call service unaffected though.

According to the Financial Times, the move has come as the Chinese government has started to realize the fact that its state run telephone company might be a bit inefficient and expensive and so, the government has decided to prevent Tom Online, which is backed by Skype, from getting a license to offer computer to telephone calls.

As China tightens its controls, though, it is likely that VoIP use will simply go underground and flourish there, Cowles added.