Skype's 3G calling pay plan announcement has certainly caused some grumbles in the industry and consumer space. Will people pay for the service? One thing is for sure, it looks like iPhone users love the app as over 5 million users have downloaded the new 3G calling version of the Skype App from the iTunes music store. With numbers like that you have to believe that Skype stands to make some cash when they start asking loyal users to pay for the service.
In a recent CNN article, Skype revealed that by August 2010, the 3G Skype-to-Skype service will become a pay service with users paying a monthly fee for calls using the app over 3G. The fee will be on top of whatever users are paying AT&T for the (now capped) data and voice plans. Russ Shaw, Skype's general manager for mobile, says they don't want to price themselves out of the market and understand they can't charge too much since users currently pay nothing.
It will be interesting to see if Skype's service can find the right price point for bargain shoppers. Although a pay plan won't be interesting to iPhone users with an unlimited voice plan, it might be a way for bargain shoppers to get a smaller bucket of minutes at a cheaper rate and use their data plan combined with a small Skype fee to avoid overage charges.
For more:
- read this CNN/Mashable report [1]
Related:
For all your Skype news in recent history check out - Roundup: The Skype Renaissance in Review [2]
Links:
[1] http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/06/03/skype.app.mashable/
[2] http://www.fiercevoip.com/special-reports/skype-news