Friday, May 21, 2004
Skype signs deal with two carriers
Mercury News | 05/19/2004 | Skype signs deal with two carriers
NEW SERVICE WILL ALLOW CALLS TO ANY STANDARD PHONE IN U.S.
By Dawn C. Chmielewski
Mercury News
TORONTO - As a waiter serves breakfast, Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom puts his head down and starts tapping on his handheld computer.
Zennstrom's not checking the time of his next appointment or reading his e-mail. He's showing off a new version of Skype's free Internet phone service that will turn any wireless-equipped PDA into a no-cost mobile phone.
On Tuesday, Zennstrom revealed agreements with two telecommunications carriers that by summer will allow Skype calls to be made to standard phones anywhere in the United States.
Zennstrom would not name his telecommunications partners in advance of an official announcement. But the deal overcomes Skype's major shortcoming: Skype users only can call people who have Skype software installed on their computers.
Skype's greatest advantage is its peer-to-peer architecture, which draws on the power of each computer forming the network rather than expensive telecommunications equipment. That makes it an aggressive competitor because the cost of adding customers is effectively zero.
``That's why we cannot charge for calls,'' said Zennstrom. ``We don't need to.''
Richards comment: and now, with calls to the PSTN?
Mercury News | 05/19/2004 | Skype signs deal with two carriers
NEW SERVICE WILL ALLOW CALLS TO ANY STANDARD PHONE IN U.S.
By Dawn C. Chmielewski
Mercury News
TORONTO - As a waiter serves breakfast, Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom puts his head down and starts tapping on his handheld computer.
Zennstrom's not checking the time of his next appointment or reading his e-mail. He's showing off a new version of Skype's free Internet phone service that will turn any wireless-equipped PDA into a no-cost mobile phone.
On Tuesday, Zennstrom revealed agreements with two telecommunications carriers that by summer will allow Skype calls to be made to standard phones anywhere in the United States.
Zennstrom would not name his telecommunications partners in advance of an official announcement. But the deal overcomes Skype's major shortcoming: Skype users only can call people who have Skype software installed on their computers.
Skype's greatest advantage is its peer-to-peer architecture, which draws on the power of each computer forming the network rather than expensive telecommunications equipment. That makes it an aggressive competitor because the cost of adding customers is effectively zero.
``That's why we cannot charge for calls,'' said Zennstrom. ``We don't need to.''
Richards comment: and now, with calls to the PSTN?
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