VoIP supplier Skype is
calling for network operators, software providers and device makers
to work together to help Skype's 405 million users consolidate
their communications media on a single mobile device.
The move has the potential to revolutionise enterprise
communications.
Skype's call follows research it commissioned that found
smartphones and netbooks are not yet the same thing in users'
minds.
The survey of 3,000 mobile users in the US, Japan, Spain and the
UK showed most do not download applications to mobile devices, and
most want more control over how they work with their device.
The study found
. 62% do not yet see their mobile device as an extension of
their computer
. Only 23% feel that they have more or the same level of control
over their mobile device as they have over their computer
. 70% have never downloaded an application to their mobile
device
. 67% want to be able to choose their mobile applications rather
than have their carriers choose for them.
Respondents in Japan, the US and the UK felt they had the least
control over their mobile devices versus personal computers, and
fewer than one in three had downloaded an application to their
mobile.
The survey suggested that younger adults look on their mobile
device as just a phone. This is likely to change as more
smartphones, which account for 23% of mobile sales, penetrate the
market.
Skype, which relies on peer-to-peer internet transmissions to
send and receive phone and video calls for free (users pay when the
call leaves the internet), is largely a fixed-wire service.
However, mobile network operators have improved their networks'
bandwidth and are desperate for high-margin data traffic. As Skype
has 405 million potential data users, mobile network operators are
lowering their resistance to Skype, even though it may cost them
voice calls.
It is still rare for mobile phone users to use a data connection
to make phone calls. Skype wants to change that.
Skype claims people have made more than 100 billion minutes
worth of free Skype-to-Skype calls. Most of that traffic has been
between computers.
Skype offers mobile applications for a wide range of operating
systems. These include Android, Windows Mobile, and Java-enabled
phones, and more than 100 devices from LG, Motorola, Nokia,
Samsung, and Sony Ericsson support Skype's P2P software. People
have used the 3Skypephone from Hutchison Whampoa's wireless
subsidiary 3 to make more than 300 million Skype-to-Skype calls, it
said.
Calling for more industry cooperation, Skype COO Scott Durchslag
said, "Together, we can bring a rich PC-like communications
experience to mobile devices - one that combines voice, video,
presence, instant messaging, and file sharing. In doing so,
consumers win, and so does the industry as it fuels growth in data
minutes and revenues."
If the enterprise and applications software houses get on board,
Skype could become the virtual carrier of choice for millions of
businesses and their staff.
Skype has an extra attraction for enterprises. Peer-to-peer VoIP
calls are hard to tap. Moreover, law enforcement agencies have
found Skype's encryption protocol hard to crack - so hard that they
are asking governments to force Skype to hand over the keys. Until
Skype complies, it promises a high degree of protection against
prying eyes and ears for corporate messages that go into "the
wild", ie public networks.