China Mobile suspends Jego registration

China Mobile International Ltd (CMI) suspended registration in Jego, a Skype-like mobile application launched three weeks ago.

The move, on Saturday, has triggered speculation that the Chinese telecom carrier might fear Jego hampers its core voice and messaging businesses.

In addition, the government does not allow VoIP calls on the Chinese mainland. In a notice posted on the Jego website, CMI said Jego, a smartphone application providing IP-based international telecom services, is still in the optimization stage.

Jego targets customers with international communication needs, especially those who connect with people on the Chinese mainland and roaming tariff-sensitive travelers, according to the company.

"CMI will temporarily suspend further new Jego registrations, Jego to Jego video and voice call will be disabled to customers who registered with a Chinese mainland number and are located in Chinese mainland," the notice said.

The measures were effective from Saturday, it added. The Hong Kong-based CMI is a fully owned subsidiary of China Mobile, the world's largest telecom operator by user numbers.