Chinese MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) recently announced that the government will officially prohibit the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) provided by non state-owned telecom operators such as Skype in China, the People's Daily News reported on December 31. Currently, China Telecom and China Unicom are two state-owned telecom operators providing legal VoIP services in the country. The Ministry, however, is yet to determine when to implement the rule. Skype service is currently still functional in China and through its joint venture with Hong Kong-based TOM Online from 2007, which has helped Skype satisfy most of Beijing's censorship requirements in years, Skype declared that users can continue to use such service without worrying. Recently, Skype added video calling for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.