At 3GSM, watch the Sky(pe)!
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Now things start. Skype made a good sensation at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, with this big announcement: Skype and Hutchinson 3 Group to create what is claimed to become the world’s first commercial VoIP service for mobile phones.
This is a major move. So far, Skype restricted itself on PC and landlines phone calls while luring on the mobile market. Hutchinson 3G, which is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., operates IP-based mobile broadband networks in several European markets.As Apple and its iTunes for the MP3 player market, it aims to offer this very attractive service to grab a huge share in the still burgeoning 3G mobile market although Hutchinson 3G, as a service provider, won’t sell any phone.
“We can’t talk pricing right now but we will be looking at various ways of bundling Skype into our other services. Maybe we’ll offer monthly subscriptions in some countries, or bundled minutes, as we do with text messaging and e-mail. The main thing is, we aim to generate new business,” said Christian Salbaing, managing director of European Telecommunications at Hutchison 3G, in a press conference.
Of course, a phone with some SIP capabilities is required prior to use the new service. eBay-Skype and Hutchinson 3G will first campaign in Sweden then in Italy for Europe. If the experiment is going good though, they will reach South-East Asia, the forecast fastest growing mobile phone area.
Feb 15, 2006 | By Nuno
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[…] At each major tech symposium, Skype is extending its partnerships. Hutchinson and Skype, at the 3GSM Barcelona last year. Today, the VoIP company confirmed it again. Nokia said at the today’s CES press conference it is partnering Skype to enable VoIP wireless calls on its new mobile phone, called the N800 Internet Tablet (in picture). The new model would also provide Yahoo! Go, and Six Apart’s Vox blogging services. The model is available immediately in the United States and selected European countries. […]