Skype mobile: network 3 caves in to be first in free mobile calls
Posted by Admin @ October 19th, 2007 in Mobile Marketing
Following the iPhone and much rumoured GPhone, Skype will introduce its own mobile phone at the end of October. Skype has struck a deal with mobile network provider 3 for nine select countries, including Great Britain, Italy, Hong Kong and Australia, Businessweek reports. At 77 we would think that we can expect the other five countries to be Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, and Sweden, the other countries in which 3 is active.
Skype, which was bought by eBay two years ago at almost twice the price it was actually worth, must be thrilled to break through in the mobile market with 3, a company Skype has launched a co-marketing project with in 2006. As opposed to the Internet, where Skype has to compete with messenger services such as Live Messenger, Google Talk and others, mobile to VoIP is a sector where they can build market share before others step in. On that subject, it will not be long before other companies will start offering marketing-funded free mobile calls, and then the choice will be to either pay a little for Skype service, or pay nothing and be interrupted in your phone calls for short commercial messages.
From the 3 point of view, they are simply the first mobile network provider to cave in to the VoIP service, which was bound to happen some time. Being first in, we can assume they hope to expand their clientèle taking over competitors’ customers. They will certainly have less revenue from the new Skype customers that will only use the service for calling landlines, but probably hope to make up for it with their regular mobile services, which will, of course, be available too on the Skype mobile.
We further expect mobile network providers to now push each other aside to be next in on the mobile to VoIP service.
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I saw someone broadcasting live from their phone and was...