Skype
has announced on Wednesday June 13th 2012AD plans to make money by
serving up free demographic-driven ads for Skype software for users of its Free
VoIP Video Calling Service in fifty five (55) of its markets. This as reported
on Skype’s
Official Blog as well as in the article “Skype
to serve display ads to Windows users”, published June 13 2012 10:58am PDT
by Donna Tam, CNET News.
A
month later in June 2011AD Facebook announced a very deep integration of Skype
into its services, in effect becoming a portal for Video Calling as concluded
by my blog
article entitled “FaceBook
deeply integrates Skype - Microsoft, the Ladykiller of Landline”.
Folks
a whole year has now passed. Since then, no progress reports has been heard
from Microsoft or Facebook on the usage statistics for their Video VoIP Calling
Service or any other deep integration of Skype into any of Microsoft’s
products.
No
improvements to make the software more lightweight or even Mobile to match
competitors such as Fring or even Google Voice, which Google introduced a year
prior in August 2010AD as I had discovered in my blog article entitled “Google and Google
Voice - The World is Not Enough”, making this the first action by
Microsoft since their purchase of Skype in a year.
Those
of us who use Google Voice will remember Apple tussle with Google over the App,
whose function bypassed International Calling Gateways for AT&T via routing
of calls over Landline and then to VoIP. AT&T pressured Apple to get rid of
the product, but without indicating why.
But
eventually Apple was forced to keep it as stated in the article “After tussle,
Google Voice application comes to iPhone”, published Tuesday November 16
2010 by AFP, Yahoo News and the article “Apple relents and approves Google Voice app for
iPhone”,
published Wednesday November 17 2010 by NewsFactor, Yahoo News.
Fast
forward to the here and now, gentle people! Facebook’s lackluster performance
of their IPO (Initial Public Offer) as stated in the article “Where
are FaceBook's friends? Stock slide deepens”, published Wednesday, May 23,
2012, The Jamaica Observer and “FaceBook
falls below US$30”, published Wednesday, May 30, 2012, The Jamaica Observerleft many
realizing the obvious.
Facebook
stumbles were due to the lack of a clear Mobile strategy and business model, as
they manly made money from being the third most visited website online as
opined earlier in my blog article
entitled “FaceBook
extinct as Chrome to be No. 1 Browser in 2012AD – FB rides Bed Knobs and
Broomsticks Mobile Revolution against Google+”.
They
have the same exact problem like Mozilla Foundation prime product, Mozilla
Firefox as stated in my Geezam Blog article
entitled “Chrome
16 beats Firefox and IE8 –Mozilla going Mobile and Cloud OS on Smartphones,
Tablets and UltraBoooks”.
The
Mozilla Foundation has renewed their Search Engine Royalty Agreement with
Google for the next three (3) years, US$900 million deal announced on 20th
December 2011AD as stated in “Firefox
saved as Google renews default search engine deal”, published December 20, 2011By Jeff Hughes, DigitalTrends and “More
details on the Google/Firefox deal emerge, big numbers involved”, published
December 23, 2011ByAndy
Boxall, DigitalTrends.
Since then Apple latest release of iOS 6.0 on
Monday June 11th 2012AD at WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference) has
integrated Facebook into the upcoming Apple iPhones as well as Apple iPad as
described in my blog article
entitled “Apple
deeply integrating Facebook into iOS 6.0 - The Penguins of Madagascar Microsoft
and Apple save the Devil in the Blue Dress”. This is much in the same way Apple had
integrated Twitter when they had launched iOS 5.0 as stated in the article “Apple’s iOS 6 Includes
Deep FaceBook Integration”, published June 11, 2012 by Sarah Kessler, Mashable.
Not
quite a business plan, but it’s a start towards a Mobile Strategy. With word
still, however, humming in the blogsphere of a future smartphone powered by
software from Facebook, this recent integration also begs the question of what
will become of Skype.
This
action of deeply integrating Facebook can effectively can be seen as
“frenemies” Apple and Microsoft teaming up against Google, as Apple
symbolically dumped Google Maps in favour of their own Maps technology as
default GPS Mapping support as stated in the article “Apple kicks Google Maps off iPhone, adds
FaceBook”, published Wednesday, June 13, 2012, The Jamaica Observer.
I
am not sure if Skype will be allowed to work on the Mobile version of Facebook
now integrated into Apple’s iOS 6.0. But it might be the case, as based on
Apple’s utterance at WWDC, FaceTime will be allowed to finally work over Mobile
Networks instead of just Wi-Fi.
This
means a renaissance for Video Calling and thus an opportunity for Skype, as it
would be unfair for Carriers such as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, now
bristling with LTE upgrades, to give FaceTime airtime preference on their
Mobile Network without allowing other Video Calling Platforms to co-exist.
Thus
what will happen becomes clear. Monetizing Skype via contextual ads is only the
start. Through skillfully negotiations using this argument, Microsoft may argue
that Skype should be allowed the same privileges as Apple’s FaceTime.
Then
Facebook and Microsoft can roll out a tiered service with four (4) separate
markets, based on the demographics of their fifty five (55) markets:
1. Free
VoIP to Terrestrial Mobile and Landline Networks Worldwide Subsidized by
advertising
2. Subscription
VoIP to Terrestrial Mobile and Landline Networks Worldwide paid for by
subscribers
3. Free
Video VoIP Calling to Terrestrial Mobile and Landline Networks Worldwide
capable of receiving Video Calls Subsidized by advertising
4. Subscription
Video VoIP Calling to Terrestrial Mobile and Landline Networks Worldwide
capable of receiving Video Calls paid for by subscribers
Further
negotiations with FaceTime could see the development of Cross Network Video
VoIP Calling Standards and Tariffs to allow customer on either service to call
each other. In essence, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple could become MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) for Video VoIP Calling powered by Telecom Providers
LTE Networks.
Contextual
advertising and tiered services presents a business model that would:
1. Monetize
Free VoIP and thus spark a revolution by introducing Free Video and VoIP
Calling to Terrestrial Mobile and Landline Networks Worldwide
2. Kick-start
the mass adoption of Video VoIP Calling
3. Get
more Silicon Valley Companies into the lucrative MVNO Network, now ramping up
in the US and Globally
4. Solve
Facebook’s problems in terms of Growth, as such a VoIP Network could be used to
power their smartphone that they are still working on
Already
Jamaica is following on the trend towards adopting smartphones as noted in my blog article
entitled “Blackberry
popularity wanes as Jamaicans go smartphones - Android and Apple's Smartphone
Revolution”.
Jamaica’s
local Telecom Provider’s LIME and Digicel will hopefully stick to their
schedule of upgrading their Caribbean Wide networks to HSDPA+ (High Speed
Downlink Packet Access) Release 7 by December 2012AD and then eventually LTE
(Long Term Evolution) by 2013AD as
stated in my
blog article entitled
“LIME's US$80 million Caribbean HSDPA+
Release 7 Upgrade - Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Digicel's US$85 million HSDPA+ and WiMax
4G Upgrade - Wizards of Waverly Place Fast Five Showdown”.
Low
cost Cross-Network and International Voice Calling over the traditional
Switched Voice Services powered by GSM is now a reality. This
thanks to the OUR (Office of the Utilities Regulation) as stated in my blog article entitled “LIME's
new TALK EZ Plan drops Cross Network Calling to JA$2.99 - Digicel's Game of
Thrones vs LIME Return of the King” and the Geezam
blog article entitled “LIME
drops Cross Network Calling rate to JA$6.99 to kick off a 3 year Battle for
Mobile Market Dominance”.
Jamaicans
will be making calling like crazy, with low-cost Dual SIM smartphones such as
those made by Florida-based Plum as stated in the article “Who
the heck is Plum Anyway?”, published May 11 2012 6:27 PDT, by Lynn La, CNET News being the next trend among
Prepaid users.
This
as MNP (Mobile Number Portability) is coming in December 2012AD and may be on
offer for Postpaid customers only as suggested by the article “Paulwell
promises number portability by December”, published Sunday, June 17, 2012
BY CONRAD HAMILTON Senior staff
reporter, The Jamaica Observer. Prepaid customer reluctant to switch may thus go
the dual-SIM route, a trend worthy of its own article quite soon
With
LTE hopefully in place by the Second Quarter of 2013AD Video VoIP Calling is
not a problem as the LTE tun’ up for both the USA and Jamaica via either
Microsoft owned Facebook integrated Skype or Apple FaceTime.
By
then the trend of Video VoIP Calling might begin to pick in Jamaica by 2014AD,
just in time for World Cup 2014AD.
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