Skype's vision for next 10 years

Skype GM Jonathan Christensen took eComm delegates through a 10-year history of VoIP finishing with some acute observations about what he thinks the next decade looks like. At the top of his future list: The inevitable sorting out of the "mobile mess."

According to Christensen, mobile is "the last anchor to the old way." It is the fastest growing sector and spectrum scarcity made it a perfect walled garden. This led to a situation for the carriers where it was the "good old days" again: "closed networks, device lock-in, phone numbers with geographic bias, contacts." Christensen described this situation simply as "yuk" but foresaw dramatic changes as the internet goes mobile, the spectrum is opened up through the 700 MHz sale and open-platform conditions apply.

Looking out over 10 years Christensen predicted a world of rich mobile
(my emphasis) Internet communications. This would be multi-model and include real-time HD video, data, presence, text and wide-band audio. The shift to mobile would drive "real" fixed/mobile convergence and a mash up of application innovation. The end result, Christensen said, would be "freedom with mobility" and a natural segmentation between pipe operators and application developers.

For more:
- Christensen's eComm's slides [1]

Related articles:
Skype gets a new boss Article [2]
Skype struggles to find real revenue Article [3]