The Savvy Technologist

Skype is throwing down the gauntlet

There’s a battle royale brewing in the telecom world. Skype just announced that SkypeOut calls to U.S. and Canadian numbers will be free through the end of 2006. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, SkypeOut allows you to call a standard landline number from your computer using the Skype VoIP service. (Skype is a free, but proprietary, download.)

It’s obvious that Skype is trying to get users hooked on the service. This will only incite the traditional telecoms in their effort to rid the Internet of its network neutrality.

I wouldn’t want to be in the business of selling long distance phone service right about now.

Update: Another implication of the free SkypeOut minutes is that recording remote interviews for podcasting just got a whole lot easier. (At least for interviews in the U.S.) Most of the people I’ve interviewed for my podcast have already had Skype accounts, but now it won’t be a big deal to interview someone who doesn’t use the Skype service. I can just call their regular voice landline from Skype on my end and record it as usual.

skype, skypeout, telecom

Tags: Podcasting and iPod, wiki, wikipedia