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Verizon Wireless to Add Skype to Smartphone’s

Verizon Wireless announced Tuesday, 02/16/10, that it would now start to add internet phone giant Skype’s internet phone application to smartphones.
This announcement could be the beginning of a seismic swing in the industries hardcore position against allowing customers a choice of using rival technologies on their same network.
Additionally it will be a quick switch. Announced at the shared news conference held in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress the process will begin next month. This will open the gates for the 90 million Verizon Wireless customers to be able to download the free voice and videoconferencing Skype software. Though the switch is for 9 smartphones and will include the popular BlackBerry Curve as well as the Motorola Droid.
Through use of the application a Verizon customer would be able to call any Skype subscriber throughout the entire world for free. For any call made to someone that isn’t a Skype subscriber it would then be deducted from the minutes balance. This will come from the voice minutes.
Additionally, the application will include some of the other popular Skype features; such as:
•   Instant messaging
•   Social networking tools
•   Videoconferencing (later release)
In order to take advantage of the software the Verizon customer will need to have both voice and data plan.
The analysts are already weighing in and are saying that with this move it is showing that the wireless industry is starting to recognize more and more that the internet data plans are going to be able to provide them a significant source of revenue with customers increasingly switching to smartphones over standard phones and using them to web surf and download applications.
Wireless companies are recognizing the threat of traditional voice services and will continue to seek to distinguish themselves by offering applications that were originally feared would erode their main business. This couldn’t be made any clearer than that of the deal just made with Verizon and Skype.
Tole Hart, an independent wireless analyst said “Voice dollars are coming down and you are seeing more competition from prepaid minutes use like from Boost. So companies want to be able to show they have additional applications that are most desirable for people to use.”
Originally launched in 2003, Skype now has over 500 million subscribers worldwide. Skype’s end goal is to become the dominant communications platform for the internet. Skype has even been partnering with television makers to start to expand their offerings beyond the pc and with this week’s Verizon Wireless deal they are making another crucial step towards their end goal.
Both Verizon and Skype have recognized this agreement as exclusive and the deal will eventually extend to other parts of the Verizon Communications business even moving into broadband and TV service. The one thing not shared was that of revenue as no financial aspects of the deal were disclosed.
The arrangement is in massive contrast to the multi-year regulatory battles between the companies over the “net neutrality” rules which would prevent carriers from blocking specific internet applications on their network. As the FCC continues to attempt to craft the rules Verizon is at the forefront fighting against what it refers to as overregulation. Skype is one of the most vocal corporate proponents of the rule.
Whatever happens this is a new and exciting time as more and more features are being added to integrate cell phones with internet applications. I for one can’t wait.

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Tags: Cell Phones, FCC, skype, VOIP

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 5:04 pm by Matt Heman and is filed under Cell Phone Applications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.