Verizon and Skype team up; RIM targets SMBs

Partnership will provide verizon Wireless with Skype mobile offering on 3G smartphones

VoIP, unified messaging, products and services

We've got three convergence-related news items today stemming from 2010 Mobile World Congress just concluded in Barcelona: Verizon Wireless and Skype announced they will bring Skype to Verizon Wireless smartphones; Research in Motion unveiled its BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express with free server software; and Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 Series platform includes some features that will advance mobile enterprise applications.

Verizon Wireless and Skype have announced a strategic partnership that will provide Verizon Wireless with an exclusive Skype mobile offering for 3G smartphones. The offer, planned for release in March, will be initially be available Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones with data plans, including select BlackBerry Storm and Curve models, World Edition and Tour 9630 smartphones, Droid phones from Motorola and HTC, and the Motorola Devour phone.

The Skype mobile application can be used to make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the globe, call international phone numbers at competitive Skype Out calling rates, send and receive instant messages to other Skype users, and ability to see friends' online presence.

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We've got three convergence-related news items today stemming from 2010 Mobile World Congress just concluded in Barcelona: Verizon Wireless and Skype announced they will bring Skype to Verizon Wireless smartphones; Research in Motion unveiled its BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express with free server software; and Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 Series platform includes some features that will advance mobile enterprise applications.

Verizon Wireless and Skype have announced a strategic partnership that will provide Verizon Wireless with an exclusive Skype mobile offering for 3G smartphones. The offer, planned for release in March, will be initially be available Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones with data plans, including select BlackBerry Storm and Curve models, World Edition and Tour 9630 smartphones, Droid phones from Motorola and HTC, and the Motorola Devour phone.

The Skype mobile application can be used to make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the globe, call international phone numbers at competitive Skype Out calling rates, send and receive instant messages to other Skype users, and ability to see friends' online presence.

Our observation: This is a big deal for both Skype and the wireless world because most wireless companies prefer users not use a VoIP service over the mobile data channel because this bypasses traditional voice calling, thereby cutting into a revenue stream for the wireless provider. But the popularity of unlimited calling plans has lessened some concerns about lost voice-call revenue. Combined with the FCC bias toward open use and net neutrality policies, we think this is a smart move for Verizon -- especially since this is an exclusive deal with Skype.

In other news, RIM introduced BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express with free server software that wirelessly and securely synchronizes BlackBerry smartphones with Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Windows Small Business Server. The software offers gives small and midsize businesses the enterprise-grade security and manageability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server, albeit with a reduced feature set. And it offers IT departments a cost-effective way for employees to connect their personal BlackBerry smartphones to their work e-mail.

Finally, Windows released its long-anticipated next generation of mobile device software with Windows Phone 7 Series.

Though largely designed for the consumer (bringing together the Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone) the upgraded features also benefit the enterprise. Like earlier editions full Exchange and Office support is included, but Microsoft has also improved support for OneNote and integrated Sharepoint services for mobile collaboration.

Read more about voip & convergence in Network World's VoIP & Convergence section.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Larry Hettick is a principal analyst at Current Analysis.