Services that allow consumers to make phone calls over the Internet are not yet sophisticated enough to fall under EU rules on voice telephone, the European Commission said this week.

However, once technology improves, Internet service providers (ISPs) could be subject to the same licensing and public service obligations as competing phone companies, the commission added.

"The current position of voice communications on Internet under (EU) law may change in the light of further technical and market developments," it said in a notice published in the EU's Official Journal.

Furthermore, the Commission said, Internet phone calls should be open to full competition even in countries that have not yet liberalised their voice telephone market.