The geek dream of circumventing the AT&T contract and running Skype's VoIP telephony service on Apple's new iPhone has come a step closer. 

A complex partial workaround has been published in a blog by Tom Keating, founder and chief technical officer at TMC Labs. 

The workaround requires a broadband-connected PC which is remotely controlled by the iPhone, software downloads and a degree of technical competence, all of which tick the boxes of true 'geekdom' in that the esoteric nature of the fix makes it unlikely to have mass appeal.

To use Skype services on the iPhone, the Opera browser (v8.6 or above) has to be installed on the handset and an Ajax-enabled application, SoonR Talk, installed on the broadband-connected PC. 

Using the browser interface, the iPhone acts as a remote control for the PC from where Skype and the SoonR service are accessed.

"Once you are logged in and connected, you can view your buddies using the Ajax client and then click on the buddy you want to talk to," said Keating.

"SoonR Talk will tell your PC to call your mobile phone using SkypeOut. Then SoonR Talk will instruct Skype to call your buddy over the Skype IP network, placing you in a conference."

As Keating points out, this is not end-to-end Skype because the PC has to use the PSTN to call the iPhone which will consume two SkypeOut credits to set up the conference call.

But this may still be cheaper than making calls direct from the iPhone using the AT&T mobile contract.