Vodafone has come up with a new content filter that could block subscribers from using competitors' phone services. The company believes that it is acting in a socially responsible manner as this would prevent kids from watching illicit web sites on the phones.

On the other hand business advocates and consumers fear that there is something more to introducing content filters rather than just meeting a social obligation. The more worried seem VoIP providers which make use of internet for making phone calls and thus avoid paying anything to traditional phone companies.

VoIP has already been posing a threat to the traditional telephone technology but companies like Skype are at the mercy of some of their biggest competitors as they generally don't own a network and VoIP customers are required to provide their own internet connection which leaves them at the mercy of network owners like Vodafone.

There is a hot debate about controlling the internet. Network owners believe that they should have control over what goes over their pipes by the virtue of their investment, time and financial risk as this would help them in meeting social mandates and protect their business interests in a better manner whereas critics believe that this contradicts the utopian idea behind the internet which is to connect anyone at anytime from anywhere.

Can these companies block VoIP? Yes, it is very much possible as the network companies are getting a serious competition from VoIP providers who are giving them a run for their money with cheap calls.