* Skype part of trend driving down voice call costs
At the recent International Engineering Consortium’s 21st Century Communications World Forum, Skype was a high-interest topic. During one discussion, the panelists (including Larry) were asked if they thought companies such as Skype were destroying the value of traditional telecom service providers. Another questioner asked for the panel’s prediction on what the cost of a voice phone call would be in five years.
Larry said Skype phone calls are not destroying value. And he boldly declared that voice calls would be free in five years to anyone who had broadband access. He reasoned that the uptake of Skype reflects a shift in the value upwards for broadband access and reflects the value parity for communications service features.
Twenty years ago, people were pretty much limited to a wireline phone call, a letter or an inter-office memo if they wanted to communicate with someone far away. Today, we have a choice to communicate via e-mail, SMS, instant messaging, and wireless or wireline phone calls. Some services, such as IM and e-mail, are now included in the price of network access; many calling plans now offer free on-net phone calls and SMS to users who subscribe to the same network service provider. It stands to reason that, much as security services and storage space are now included with broadband access, so too will voice calls be included in the price of a broadband bundle.
Skype and its partners are contributing to the trend for inclusive communications services. In the past several months, Skype users have gotten the ability to include a free voicemail substitute called the Skype Answering Machine (SAM).
A partnership with Connectotel offers Skype users free (for now) SMS-to-Skype and Skype-to-SMS services. Skype has also announced a partnership with Motorola to bring VoIP to mobile devices. Skype has further announced a partnership with Hutchison Global Communications to promote and deliver Skype software to the Hong Kong market. And a partnership with Daum Communications will offer free high-quality online voice calls worldwide, with a co-branded version of Skype for the Korean market.
Looks like Skype and its partners are increasing features and service reach as the numbers of Skype users continues to grow.
