Did T-Mobile Turn off Twitter?

Even though some well-known Internet marketers are praising the effectiveness of micro-blogging site Twitter for many small businesses, maybe T-Mobile is not impressed at all. There were some reports last week that T-Mobile has blocked this service for their customers without any formal notification.

Here’s a portion of the e-mail sent by a representative from Executive Customer Relations department at T-Mobile to blogger Robert Mertz when he inquired about the said disruption:

…Twitter is not an authorized third-party service provider, and therefore you are not able to utilize service from this provide any longer…. T-Mobile is not in violation of any agreement by not providing service to Twitter. T-Mobile regrets any inconvenience, however please note that if you remain under contract and choose to cancel service, you will be responsible for the $200 early termination fee that would be assessed to the account at cancellation.

For T-Mobile's sake, let's hope this is a mere technical problem and not the same blocking tactic they once used against VOIP-based free calling service Truphone. Otherwise, they might end up losing more customers than expected.