Skype meant it when they said go Mobile

Christopher Dean, Chief Strategy Officer at Skype, meant it when he focused his IT Expo keynote on mobile VoIP. Part of his speech was spent demonstrating the rapid uptake of the mobile internet versus the slow growth of the original wired Internet. He noted that mobile data usage on AT&T's network was up 5000 percent since the launch of the iPhone and the future of IP communication would also involve embracing mobile technologies.

"Changes in the market offer both immense risk for operators who don't actually adapt to change and an incredible amount of opportunity for those that do," said Dean at IT Expo. Perhaps his message was directed at mobile operators with the knowledge of what he would launch a few weeks later at Mobile World Congress.

Today at MWC, Skype announced that they've been working with Verizon Wireless to develop an always-on Skype Mobile app [1]. The program will work on RIM phones, the Motorola and HTC Droids, and the Moto Devour--being tightly integrated into the functionality of the phones. Unlike other platforms, this Skype app will run in the background and will receive calls even when the customer isn't actively using it. Requiring a data plan, the app will allow for unlimited Skype-to-Skype calls and cheap international calls at Skype's VoIP rates. 

Despite some of Dean's statements at IT Expo about the need for 4G, the companies' believe that the new application will not hinder Verizon's 3G network quality. The reason behind this is that the calls are being handled by Verizon's voice network and not the data network. Once the calls connect to Skype, they get routed like VoIP calls, but on the cell phone they actually use voice. -Mike [2]

P.S. This post was edited and clarified on 2/17 when it was brought to my attention that Verizon and Skype are using a voice network work-around so as not to bog down the 3G networks. I guess we aren't quite ready for Mobile VoIP.