Skype on a mobile? Why?

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 30 October 2007 05:51

Opinion and Analysis

As a regular Skype user who thinks the service is wonderful, my first question on hearing the news that mobile carrier 3 is going to release a Skype phone, was why bother?

I also happen to be a 3 user and, as such, I know that the Skype mobile option is already available here in Australia on the Nokia 95 handset for $20 extra a month. With lots of Skype contacts, I actually considered subscribing - for about 2 seconds.

The fact is that Skype is great if your contacts are online because then it's free. I use it all the time within my business mostly for chats with colleagues using instant messaging from my PC and sometimes for voice calls using my combination Skype and DECT cordless phone.

The SkypeOut service is also a great way to make cheap calls to landlines virtually anywhere in the world. When I was in New York recently, I was making calls all over the world from my hotel room using Skype on my notebook for about 2 cents a minute. Admittedly the hotel's broadband service cost me $10 a day but I would have used that anyway.

Calls using SkypeOut to mobiles is a different matter. You pay mobile rates - although you don't have to pay the ridiculously expensive roaming charges if you're abroad.

So how would I benefit using a mobile Skype service under the limitations imposed by 3 on its new Skype Phone handset as announced in the UK - and due to be announced in Australia tomorrow?

Well, I would be able to call any of my Skype contacts who happen to be online for free? At a rough guess, that gives me about a 5% chance of being able to make a free Skype call since most of the people I need to contact at any given time either don't use Skype or don't happen to be available online.

Of course, if my family members (and some friends) all had the new 3 Skype Phone, I would be able to place free Skype calls to them at any time. However, in Australia 3 already provides its customers with free 3-to-3 mobile calls, so what's the point of using Skype for calls between 3 Skype Phones?

One thing that would be really useful is if you could use SkypeOut to place calls to landlines from your mobile. But guess what? The 3 Skype Phone doesn't allow you to make SkypeOut calls. And why would it - you would then be paying 2 cents a minute to Skype instead of 20 cents a minute to 3.

The fact of the matter is that Skype and mobile phone services don't mix. One comes from the mobile voice carriage space and the other comes from the Internet telephony (VoIP) space. They're actually competitors for your voice call dollar.

From the user perspective, however, both services are complementary - they serve different purposes. Skype is great at home - or in a hotel room with broadband - while nothing beats a mobile phone when you're out and about.

Skype on a mobile? It's a novel idea that doesn't make sense unless everyone suddenly bought a Skype Phone. That will never happen and, if it did, you can bet your 20c a minute that 3 would pull the service.