Skype Looking More And More Like a Telco

Filed under: voip - 07 Mar 2007 23:52

When I saw that Skype was launching their Skype Prime service, where you can essentially charge for someone to talk to you, I immediately thought: 900 numbers. Pat Phelan thought the same thing, but then again, he should know a thing or two about that. And Dan York also went to the obvious use of this: phone sex!

So what are you really getting out of this? Phil Wolff lays it out pretty clearly for us: Skype takes 30%, you don’t get paid for 120 days, and you can’t bill less than $0.50 an hour, which Skype takes 30% of.  And what exactly is Skype providing here, exactly? I mean, it’s a peer to peer call, thus there is no way they can actually guarantee quality of service. People are paying with money Skype has (theoretically anyway) already confirmed is valid and genuine. What value is Skype actually giving us for that 30% they are charging us, exactly?

In addition to offering another telco-like service, they are charging rates for it that remind me of what a telco would charge. And they appear to be providing even less value for that money than the telcos of old. Either Skype is being really stupid or there’s something I’m missing in this whole thing.


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5 Comments

  1. Pingback by cernio

    links from TechnoratiOne more thing is worth to be mentioned. Luca notices there is a big name that is missing: The big absence ? Skype. Skype is not a Pulver 100 company this year. This fact goes confirms, somehow, the idea that Skype(1) is not(2) doing(3) innovation(4) Technorati Tags: cernio, pulver100, Luca Filigheddu, skype, innovation, voice20,

  2. Pingback by Skype Journal

    links from Technoratithey can barely tolerate a few cents for a PSTN call. Or, they are used to use emails. Unfortunately It’s not always possible to take something which works for traditional telephony and make it work over the internet.” Dameon Welch-Abernathy: “In addition to offering another telco-like service, they are charging rates for it that remind me of what a telco would charge. And they appear to be providing even less value for that money than the telcos of old.”

  3. Pingback by Skype Journal: Archives

    links from Technoratithey can barely tolerate a few cents for a PSTN call. Or, they are used to use emails. Unfortunately It’s not always possible to take something which works for traditional telephony and make it work over the internet.” Dameon Welch-Abernathy: “In addition to offering another telco-like service, they are charging rates for it that remind me of what a telco would charge. And they appear to be providing even less value for that money than the telcos of old.”

  4. Comment by Jonathan Jensen

    Isn’t this another example of Skype having lost the plot. We’ve seen more event based charging (connection charges) in a world that’s moving away from that model, expensive rates for calls that terminate in the PSTN world (SkypeOut) & now Skype Prime. I know Skype are under pressure to deliver revenue to eBay but there must be better ways of doing it ….. What happened to Skype’s mission to change the comms world? I guess the answer is eBay!

  5. Comment by LV

    There are a few reasons:
    1. Big userbase with the necessary software installed.
    2. Users with money loaded onto accounts for other reasons already. Low barrier of entry for consumers.
    3. No need to integrate payment systems and worry about its operations for providers.
    4. Financial risk mitigation infrastructure for an attractive fraud target.
    5. Infrastructure for calling, video calls, improvement of these.

    The pricing itself is not too steep nor cheap. I believe the rate charged is some 60% in Germany and 10% in the US. Some of the propositions above are quite unique globally and the fraud cost is something that is more difficult on the web.

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