X-bit labs

Skype Brings Internet Telephony to Mass Markets.

Category: Multimedia

by Anton Shilov

[ 01/05/2006 | 07:04 AM ]

Skype, a provider of Internet communications, announced at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that a plethora of companies including such well-known as Creative Technology, D-Link and Panasonic, would offer their customers phones that may call via Skype network and combine traditional and Skype telephony. Such a move potentially provides users not familiar with Skype an opportunity to make calls for free, or at very low rates.

“The growing Skype ecosystem of leading consumer electronics companies gives Skype users innovative, easy-to-use products and validates the market for Internet calling,” said James Bilefield, vice president of business development for Skype.

With these new products, consumers will be able to use cordless phones away from the desktop to make Skype calls, easily switch between free Skype calls and ordinary landline calls. Analysts believe that easy to use devices that do not require consumers to be near their desktops to make calls using Skype will greatly popularize the service and may offer serious competition to traditional phone companies.

New Products Enable New Opportunities

During the largest consumer electronics show on the planet Skype said that Creative Technology had developed  Creative Skype Internet PhonePLUS, a standalone phone that connects to a local area network and enables anyone to make free Skype calls over the Internet without a PC connection.

Additionally, D-Link announced a USB phone adapter that connects to an USB port of a computer, telephone line and a telephone allowing to make both Skype and traditional calls using the already purchased phone and benefiting from the capabilities, such as call waiting, it had. The D-Link Skype USB phone adapter (DPH-50) will be available globally at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $69.

Ipevo introduced its Fly-1 Cordless Handset and Xing Speakerphone – a Skype-compatible handset and a base station that connects to USB ports. A similar product – that connects to USB port and allows calling using Skype is already offered by VTech, but VTech’s newly announced USB7100 phone not only provides opportunities to call using traditional landline networks and Skype, but also supports up to four handsets.

Netgear, a maker of Ethernet equipment, unveiled a new communication device that can call via Skype and connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi wireless local area networks. The device cannot roam between access points and cannot use Wi-Fi networks that require subscription, however, thus, is not suitable for business users. The device will be available this quarter, pricing is unclear.

Skype also hinted that Panasonic, a well-known maker of DECT phones, will introduce its cordless telephone product that interfaces directly with Skype, allowing users to make and receive Skype calls and traditional calls using the same device, in mid-2006. Peculiarities and pricing of the device are uncertain.

Skype More Compelling to Wide Range of Callers - Analyst

The breed of announcements was predictable, as Skype’s chief executive back in September 2005 said that the company would focus on development of consumer-friendly Skype-compatible devices.

“Skype and the companies joining its ecosystem – from retailers like RadioShack to device manufacturers such as Netgear and Panasonic – are bringing Internet telephony to the mass market even faster than expected,” said Will Stofega, research manager, VoIP services, IDC. “By moving Skype off the desktop and into handsets, the free service becomes much more compelling and familiar so that it may appeal to a wider range of callers.”

Internet phone provider Vonage also provides its subscribers similar devices that allow making Internet phone calls without using personal computers. But Vonage requires monthly payment fees, while Skype makes revenue by offering its customers to call traditional phones in addition to some other services.