Wednesday, September 28, 2005
David vs Goliath or BT vs. Skype
I just do not know who is David and who is Goliath?
In today's Herald Tribune International under the heading "BT Group takes aim at an Internet phone rival" (namely Skype) it said that BT Group announced on Tuesday that it would offer international calls half the price of Skype.
The catch is that this offer is only valid for BT's PC-based phone service BT Communicator. A 60-minute call to the US would cost 30 pence instead of 72p charged by Skype. BT standard fixed-line customers stilled get ripped of with 300p.
"Skype is the real competition for us" said John Petter, chief operating officer for BT's consumer division. Aha, BT is well advanced, at least they have got the wake-up call. Other carriers are still sleeping well and dreaming.
"There's going to be a bunch of customers who are going to move quickly to VoIP" said Dimitri Ypsilanti, a telecommunications analyst from the OECD in Paris. "It's really showing that a Goliath is as flexiible and innovative as David. This is an important marketing coup".
I wonder. Is it really innovative to compete with Skype on price? Good luck.
And a marketing coup? Pissing-off the "standard" customers?
And again, who are the David's and the Goliath's here.
In today's Herald Tribune International under the heading "BT Group takes aim at an Internet phone rival" (namely Skype) it said that BT Group announced on Tuesday that it would offer international calls half the price of Skype.
The catch is that this offer is only valid for BT's PC-based phone service BT Communicator. A 60-minute call to the US would cost 30 pence instead of 72p charged by Skype. BT standard fixed-line customers stilled get ripped of with 300p.
"Skype is the real competition for us" said John Petter, chief operating officer for BT's consumer division. Aha, BT is well advanced, at least they have got the wake-up call. Other carriers are still sleeping well and dreaming.
"There's going to be a bunch of customers who are going to move quickly to VoIP" said Dimitri Ypsilanti, a telecommunications analyst from the OECD in Paris. "It's really showing that a Goliath is as flexiible and innovative as David. This is an important marketing coup".
I wonder. Is it really innovative to compete with Skype on price? Good luck.
And a marketing coup? Pissing-off the "standard" customers?
And again, who are the David's and the Goliath's here.
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