Skype talks future of mobile communication

Skype believes we are all living in a web of connected devices in an app centric world where phones are no longer phones, but little computers in our pockets.
Speaking at the CommunicAsia show in Singapore, Skype’s GM for EMEA and GM of Mobile Skype, Russ Shaw, told the audience that while apps were a disruptor in terms of telecom, Skype was a “well behaved disruptor,” which actually brought telcos more advantages than it took away.

Consumers, said Shaw, had spoken, and the message was clear: devices and good devices are important.
Shaw said that while smartphones were already crowning themselves king in 2008 with just 15% of the market, by 2013 they will truly have earned their royal status in consumer hearts, with predictions they will make up some 40% of the market. By 2015, posited Shaw, virtually all phones shipped will be smartphones.
Skype’s GM went on to give his views about the future of mobile and the evolution of the internet, both of which he sees Skype playing a huge and formative role in.
Starting out with a sobering fact, Shaw reminded his audience that the number of mobile subscribers was already three times larger than PC internet subscribers at 4.6 billion, and that this number would only continue to grow as many in the developing world began accessing the internet for the first time with their mobile phones.
12 million Skype downloads have already been recorded on iPhones to date, which translates into Skype being installed on 15% of all iPhones. Skype is also available on several Symbian devices as well as Sony Ericsson’s devices. Shaw made special mention of the Nokia N900, which enables Skype video calls to other N900 devices or to PCs and TVs with embedded Skype clients.

Apparently 34% of all Skype-to-Skype calls in 2009 were video calls. “Video changes everything,” gushed Shaw who said he believed Skype would finally manage to make a lucrative business out of mobile video calling, something which has eluded it in the past.
Skype is adamant, however, that its mobile video services won’t be pushed out everywhere until the experience is perfect. “We have a mantra at Skype,” said Shaw, “if you have a skype mobile experience, it has to be a good one.”
Another big number Shaw quoted was 70 billion dollars, which is what the Skype GM believes will be the value of the app market in 2015.

Apps are the disruptors and the future of the industry, proclaimed the Skype GM, who was also insistent on the fact software would become the main driver of both mobile device and data plan purchase in the very near future. “Software is key and 3^rd party app developers are critical,” he explained.
Whilst Skype has had an uphill battle with operators, and has tended to be regarded as a huge disruptor in and of itself, Shaw said the recent partnerships with carriers like Verizon and 3 UK/Australia had been “very important” and were changing the way people think about Skype and the mobile VoIP space.
The situation was a win-win for both carriers and Skype said Shaw, because Skype gave its partners a level of differentiation, a value add which customers loved and which drove demand for smartphones and services. Shaw also said it was a myth that Skype ate up oodles of bandwidth, noting that streaming music to one’s phone used about three times as much bandwidth as a Skype call.
Skype’s value proposition also seems to have found its feet, with Shaw announcing that with Skype going cross platform and being used across TVs, mobiles and PCs, people would be able to transition seamlessly between platforms, and that this was an experience worth paying for. “Value for customers is what it’s all about, he said, “using smartphones to connect to other devices.”
But for it to work, Shaw said Skype was adamant its software had to “be easy to install, delightful to use, and foolproof to support.”

Networks, he noted, were also “crucial,” in the equation and Skype said Shaw is increasingly seeing networks as partners.
Skype also apparently feels very strongly about the open internet and innovation. “Imperatives for success are partnerships for mutual benefits,  innovation in networks and open internet platform to win,” he declared.
“Without an open internet, innovation is stifled,” he added giving the example of the walled garden approach which has turned out to be so unpopular.
Shaw said Skype was already in discussions with more operators and that Skype could soon be appearing on a lot more devices. “Let customers use the apps of their choice,” he pleaded, adding “the customer always wins.”