New phone to be released on 3 network - 3 Skypephone
Sometime next month it is rumored (more than a rumor though...) that 3 Mobile will be releasing the 3 SkypePhone, a new phone that allows people to use Skype just like they would on their home computer (ie free calls to other skype users) …
Context & Ripple Effects
A week earlier, Skype had confirmed its push onto handsets with Skype Goes Mobile coverage of a new cell phone aimed at jump-starting revenues in overseas markets — the first time the service, until then largely a PC download business, was packaged as dedicated hardware. This report adds the missing commercial piece: the device will reportedly ship through UK operator 3 Mobile next month, under the name 3 Skypephone.
The rumored terms matter more than the hardware: free Skype-to-Skype calls working just as they do on a home computer means a carrier would be hosting a service that undercuts its own per-minute voice billing. Whether 3 confirms the launch, and on what subsidy model, determines whether other European operators treat mobile VoIP as a threat or a subscriber-acquisition tool.
First-order effects
- If the rumored November release holds, 3 Mobile's subscribers gain free Skype-to-Skype calling on the handset, directly displacing metered voice revenue on those calls while giving 3 a differentiator against Vodafone, T-Mobile, and other rivals competing for the same contract market.
- Skype gets its first carrier-bundled distribution channel — a shift from users downloading software to an operator pre-installing the service, which Zennstrom has framed as part of steady growth into new platforms alongside moves like the MySpaceIM partnership.
Second-order effects
- Rival operators face a forced choice between blocking VoIP clients to protect minute-based tariffs or matching 3's bundle, since a handset that makes international-style calls free resets customer expectations across the market.
- Handset makers and other carriers come under pressure to open devices to Skype-class services, turning 'does this phone run VoIP?' into a purchase criterion alongside camera and screen specs.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, mobile voice pricing migrates toward flat data plans with VoIP carried inside them, eroding the per-minute tariff structure that funds operator subsidies and forcing regulators to weigh net-neutrality questions over carrier networks.
- Carriers that embrace third-party internet services position themselves as access pipes plus subscriber relationships, a structural retreat from owning the whole voice stack.
The trend: Mobile operators are beginning to host rather than block internet calling, trading voice-minute revenue for data-plan economics and exclusive handset differentiation.