Update: This article has been revised to include a response on the matter from T-Mobile
T-Mobile USA has moved to block its customers from downloading YouMail, an app that provides visual voicemail, from the Android Market, claiming the app causes "network disruption."
According to an emailed statement issued by YouMail, T-Mobile did not notify the company of any problems with its app prior to pulling the application and no other carriers have complained about YouMail's service disrupting the network.
In a statement on the matter provided by T-Mobile, the carrier claims it reached out to YouMail in early November and asked them to address issues with their application that were negatively impacting customer experience. T-Mobile said it is in contact with YouMail and is working to resolve the issues.
YouMail is a subscription service with 2 million registered users. The company reports having raised over $13 million in funding and says it fields over 50 million calls every month.
Alex Quilici, CEO at YouMail, said he's baffled by the move. "T-Mobile has not contacted us at all about this. We discovered the problem when we started hearing from our users that were trying to download the app from the Android Market."
Quilici says YouMail has not heard of any problems from other networks, including Sprint, Verizon Wireless or AT&T. He said the company is waiting to hear back from Google on more specifics as to why the app was pulled.
Far from blasting T-Mobile, Quilici says T-Mobile has been easy to work with in the past. He hopes a resolution can be reached quickly.
The YouMail app is still available for T-Mobile users on the Amazon App Store for Android.