By
Ed Finegold
I used to hate Skype.
See, I had this job where I worked remotely, but if you weren't logged-in to Skype, you weren't considered to be 'in the office.' This meant that we were all effectively chained to our desks. What's the point of telecommuting if I have to be in the office all the time? As far as I'm concerned, there isn't one. That's why I think the new Verizon Wireless-Skype partnership is groundbreaking (If only it was in effect when I had that lousy job). This relationship is perhaps the first major example of an incumbent carrier embracing and implementing the new, 4G-like service model – not just wireless broadband capacity - we've all been talking about for the past few years. Moving Skype, a voice-centric app, onto the VZW 3G network effectively breaks down network, geographic, carrier, and billing barriers to provide a seamless, community-oriented service for the sake of creating new value for customers. It also helps sell data plans in a smart and tangible way.
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Skype offers a compelling reason to upgrade devices and plans. |
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In the BSS space, we've talked for years about making data usage more tangible than the megabyte by pushing value added applications to market. There are lots of apps available. The difference with Skype is that it already serves a community of tens of millions of users, and it's a voice app. Instead of seeing this as competition, Verizon Wireless
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Making Change
Just before the CTIA Wireless 2010 event, Verizon Wireless announced that it would announce a major partnership with Skype at the show, which the two companies did. VZW now supports Skype on its Smartphones. All Skype-to-Skype calls are considered In-Network calls and don't count against either a customer's minute allotment or megabyte allotment. The only requirements are a Smartphone and a data plan. "I think a lot of consumers aren't clear as to why they need a data plan and this (Skype) is something very tangible. It offers free, unlimited calling worldwide, if you have a data plan," says Jennifer Byrne, director – business development, for Verizon Wireless.
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recognized it as being valuable to its customers and its service roadmap. It's something customers can understand and control. With its global reach, massive number of users, and functionality that includes presence and messaging, it offers a compelling reason to upgrade devices and plans.
Byrne was a member of the team that conceived of the Skype partnership for Verizon Wireless. "We try to look at trends on the web and in mobile and understand what we can do from a partnership standpoint to bring the best services to our customers. We saw the earth-shattering numbers Skype was
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