While the echoes are still bouncing from the recent outcry against Telco’s treatment of VoIP services including Skype, 3UK has taken a very risky move. It has declared that mobile owners with a to-be-released 3 SIM card will be able to make Skype calls completely free of any data charge. And this covers any Skype-to-Skype, not just ones made between 3 customers.
3 already had a relationship with Skype in the form of the Skypephone, but the plan is to bring the two much closer together in two phases. From the start of May, pay-as-you-go customers on 3 will be able to use Skype even if they have no credit. Later in the year, 3 will issue the new SIM cards that will allow free calls and IM to other Skype users – for only 2 pounds.
From the briefing:
3UK CEO Kevin Russell said: “We believe that, once you come to 3 and use Skype, you will use other services on 3…We are targeting anyone who uses Skype today.” He claimed that free Skype calls will help 3 differentiate the brand, and the data traffic will not be significant relative to the investments 3 is already making in mobile broadband.
What we think?
There’s two ways of looking at this. The first is as a forward looking move by 3, acknowledging that VoIP has arrived and that Telco’s have to adapt and work with it. The second is as a cynical attempt to scour a little money from this before VoIP becomes a more serious contender.
I’m inclined to go with option 2 there.
The way I look at is this: as reported, Skype is already taking a significant amount of the international call market away from operators. With VoIP becoming more and more prevalent and popular, it’s obvious that it will soon begin to take a lot of money out of the operators pockets. But 3 doesn’t have a revenue plan here. It’s jumping into bed with Skype without seeming to have any good ideas for where to go after that. The plan, as described in the briefing, comes across as someone saying “well, if we give VoIP away for free, people might be attracted to join 3… or stay with 3… or something…” before trailing off and shrugging.
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