Skype WiFi - now available on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
Skype WiFi (formerly known as Skype Access) is coming to iOS. We've just launched a new iOS application that's free to download from Apple's App store. — With the new Skype WiFi app, you can go online on your iPhone …
Context & Ripple Effects
Skype has spent 2011 tightening its grip on Apple's devices — video calling arrived on the iPhone last December, and earlier this month the company shipped a dedicated iPad-optimized client. The new Skype WiFi app extends that push beyond communication into connectivity itself: the former Skype Access service is renamed and repackaged as a free App Store download that buys per-minute hotspot access, with SiliconFilter pegging the rate at $0.06/minute.
The strategic point is that Skype now sits between the user and third-party WiFi operators as a billing layer, monetizing moments when a traveler is away from cellular or home networks rather than only selling call minutes.
First-order effects
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch owners can now buy hotspot time directly inside a Skype-branded app at roughly $0.06 per minute, with Skype Access retired under the Skype WiFi name.
Second-order effects
- WiFi hotspot operators gain an aggregated pay-per-use customer base through Skype's app, while mobile carriers face another small leak of occasional-connectivity spend away from data plans.
Third-order effects
- If the model holds, communications apps become payment rails for third-party infrastructure — handset-native accounts settling micropayments for physical network access, a role carriers traditionally owned.
The trend: Communication apps are expanding from selling minutes into selling metered access to underlying networks, turning the smartphone into a wallet for connectivity.