Bad news for users hoping to use JAJAH VoIP on their iPhone. It seems that ATT/Cingular doesn’t take kindly to free conference call services.

Granted, JAJAH isn’t technically a “conference call service” but from the looks of things, ATT/Cingular will likely lump them into the same category. According to Cingular spokesperson Mark Siegel they are losing money because “We have to pay terminating access for every minute the person is on the line” and “Typically these companies run them through local exchange companies that charge high access rates, so we end up paying high access charges.” I’ll admit that it is a fair enough argument, and usually when a large company such as that finds out it’s getting the short end of the stick, they either put an end to it, or just hike up their prices to compensate.

There is still hope that JAJAH won’t be affected by this, for now it appears that they are targeting services that route their calls through a 712 area code based out of Iowa. It seems strange, but apparently in that area they charge phone carriers like ATT/Cingular more than anywhere else. I’m not sure where JAJAH routes their calls, but as soon as we have more information on this we’ll let you know.

AT&T/Cingular blocks cellular customers from free conference call services

[via arstechnica]