@MWC: VZW rings up deal with Skype

BARCELONA – For a first timer to the GSMA’s premier wireless event, Verizon Wireless wasted little time making its presence felt.
Just a day after officially joining the association, Verizon Wireless announced a deal with Skype Ltd. to begin offering Skype Mobile on select smartphones beginning next month. The devices will include the carrier’s band of Research In Motion Ltd. devices as well as its trio of Google Inc. Android-powered devices, including the Motorola Inc. Droid, HTC Corp. Eris and soon to launch Moto Devour.
Verizon Wireless said the service would be available as a free download and that the only rate plan requirement was that a customer had a voice and data package. The carrier recently adjusted its pricing plans requiring customers with a smartphone, including those that are compatible with the Skype Mobile service, to sign up for a $30 per month data package. Once installed, the service will be priced similar to Skype’s current PC-based offering, meaning free calls between Skype customers around the world and a series of packages for calls placed from the Skype service to a landline or mobile number.
Unlike the current Skype application that is compatible with select mobile operating systems, including Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile, Skype and Verizon Wireless said the new application was specifically tailored to maximize battery life on a mobile device despite its always-on nature. The offering will also integrate with a device’s address book and allow for Skype’s presence capabilities.
While some details on the complete function of the service will be released closer to its release date around the time of the CTIA trade show event. Verizon Wireless did clarify that the offering was designed to work with the carrier’s circuit-switched CDMA network and not for Wi-Fi networks as a VoIP service on devices enabled with Wi-Fi technology.
Financial and exclusivity details on the agreement were not released, though Skype said it will make money from the deal and Verizon Wireless said it expects the offering to prove a compelling attracting to customers at other carriers as well as an upselling potential for smartphones.
Verizon Wireless was also mum on any potential usage of the service on its upcoming LTE network, with the carrier’s EVP and chief marketing officer John Stratton only hinting that more offerings from the partnership were in the works.