Everybody loves the idea of cheap VoIP calls on cell phones. Everybody, that is, except for wireless carriers who charge usurious fees for voice and data plans. Cellular providers around the globe are placing restrictions on Skype for iPhone and other Internet phone services, and that’s bad news for consumers.

In the United States, AT&T limits Skype for iPhone calls to Wi-Fi connections. This means the VoIP app won’t work over AT&T’s 3G or EDGE data networks. (9to5 Mac says it got Skype to work on beta iPhone 3.0 software, but it’s likely that Apple and AT&T will close that loophole in a hurry.) In Germany, telecom giant Deutsche Telekom AG has prohibited the use of VoIP software for one and a half years. And in Canada, iPhone users won’t be allow to download Skype due to “vague restrictions” in technology licenses, according to Skype.

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