Good news out of China on VoIP service.  While we were previously worried that China was going to ban VoIP.  Now it has reversed course and decided to legalize VoIP service:

The Ministry of Information Industry of China is likely to issue the first Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) license in the country this June at the latest, said a source in the ministry.

The move not only signals that China is loosening its control upon VoIP business, but also could indicate that it will have a significant impact upon the nation’s telecom sector. The opening of VoIP business has become a global trend these years.

The ministry has made an initial scheme for the VoIP development in China, the source said. It plans to issue the first license to a company under the aegis of the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and makes the company as a pilot VoIP carrier.

Next, the nation will open its VoIP market entirely in 2007 when telecom carriers can also apply for VoIP licenses, predicted the source.

The chosen company is said to be one in Southern China, which needs to be finalized. The source declined to tell the name of the company to have the license, but he confirmed that the company is not a carrier.

The company will operate the VoIP business nationwide and build platforms for VoIP technologies and operation, according to the source.

Its first VoIP technology platform is expected to be completed on March 20, said the source. Officials from the ministry visited the company several days ago, he added.