Verizon Wireless and Skype announced a strategic partnership
that, beginning March 25th, will allow unlimited Skype to Skype
calling on nine Verizon Wireless 3G smart phones.
Initially, the Skype mobile application will allow users
to:
" Make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any
Skype contact
" Send and receive unlimited instant messages with other Skype
users
" Manage the Skype contact list directly from the mobile
applications
" Call international phone numbers at low Skype rates
Verizon will support Skype on the following Smartphone models
out of the gates:
" Blackberry: Storm 9550, Storm2 9550, Curve 8330, 8530, 8830
World Edition, Tour 9630
" Motorola: DROID, DEVOUR
" HTC: DROID ERIS
Yankee Groups Take :
" Very interesting move by Verizon who have clearly chosen
to put strategic focus on 3G data service differentiation even
though, ironically, the voice portion of the Skype service will be
delivered on Verizons 3G voice RAN. At the press conference,
Verizon claimed the decision to forgo native VoIP to the handset
was based on the coverage and reliability of the Verizon 3G voice
network and not because of spectrum efficiency.
" This partnership represents a key shift in strategy for
Verizon who historically resisted the idea of opening networks to
3rd party application providers although that stance is changing.
Unconfirmed speculation is that the deal is indeed exclusive for a
period of 2-3 years.
" While there is some real risk to core Verizon voice
revenue, much of that risk is mitigated by shrinking revenues
attributed to international long-distance and the growth of smart
phone data plans. Verizon customers who attempt to Skype-out to
U.S. based telephone numbers will be billed against their existing
Verizon minute plans—an important caveat for potential users
to understand.
" Verizon surely looks at the free and exclusive Skype
application as a key feather in its cap vs. AT&T with iPHONE
AND a key driver to sell mobile data plans given the
requirement that subscribers must have one to use the application.
This agreement gives VZW a leg up on AT&T and Apple who
presently only support Skype on the iPHONE over wifi access, not
the AT&T 3G voice/data radio network which greatly limits
mobility.
" This partnership represents a boon for Skype who will
surely see growing network effects of having a partner with 91M
subscribers and nationwide coverage [albeit only a fraction of
those subscribers using 3G smartphones]. The benefits of the
combination of mobility and Skype are pretty obvious given that the
current usage model for most Skype users is one of appointment
calling i.e. Hey make sure you are at your PC at 6:00, Ill Skype
ya. The always on and mobility aspect of the application will
greatly enhance the utility of Skype which adds to its brand value,
acceptance, and revenues.
" Those of us who watch the IMS/RCS space are forced to
scratch our heads and ponder the implications this might have on
the adoption of RCS. Rich Communication Services, which are enabled
by IMS, are positioned to deliver on many of the same dynamic
features inherent in the Skype platform. Many of us believe that
telecom operators could use RCS to build their own central position
around the dynamic, presence enabled address book. This move seems
to at least water down that type of position for Verizon, but
I’m interested in what you think??
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SOURCE