Verizon lands deal with Skype
Written by mattb on April 12th, 2010I recently ran across an article on Helium.com. It sparked my interest because of the high-priced cell phone bills I have been paying all my life. I read not to long ago that VOIP will most likely make voice plans a thing of the past. The main drawback is that great software like Skype will not work on 3G and is limited to Wi-Fi alone. According to Helium.com, we are moving closer to 3G-based VOIP applications. Verizon has now jumped on board and offered the Skype service. This is an amazing breakthrough since Skype offers free calls to other Skype users as well as extremely cheap domestic and international calling. Skype is typically only available via Wi-Fi and therefore a very limited option compared to 3G. With this new partnership with Verizon however, Calls can be made via 3G. Now you can use Skype anywhere you go, saving your normal voice minutes and roaming charges. Verizon will no doubt lose some profits but at the same time, more people will likely sign up for their data plans. Either way, it’s a great step for the future of VOIP.
Another great aspect of the Verizon Skype enabled phones is you can run multiple programs. With other phones such as the Iphone, this doesn’t work. If your talking on Skype and receive a text message, your call becomes mute until you close the text which is very annoying. With Verizon, you can multi-task while using Skype. I’m excited to see who follows.
