Report claims Facebook and Skype to announce online partnership

by Steven Mostyn - Sep 30 2010, 04:50

Citing sources "close to the situation," technology website All Things Digital has this week revealed that social networking giant Facebook is preparing to partner with VoIP platform Skype in a deal that will involve the cross-service integration of SMS and voice/video chat through Facebook Connect.

With the deal likely to be announced in the next few weeks, it is expected that Facebook users will be given direct access to voice and video chat using Skype's popular PC-to-PC telephony platform.

Going the other way, Skype users will apparently receive a specific Facebook tab enabling them to contact their social networking friends without having to leave the VoIP service.

According to the "exclusive" All Things Digital report, the online partnership will benefit Skype by providing it with access to a completely new demographic, while Facebook's global reach will be increased due to Skype's international popularity.

In terms of applicable audience, Facebook is the world’s biggest social network thanks to a user base of around 500 million, while Skype boasts an audience of around 560 million.

"We work with a lot of companies on Facebook integrations, but have nothing to announce with regards to Skype at this time," commented a Facebook spokesperson.

In answering enquiries regarding the deal, Skype would only say that it does not comment on rumour and speculation.

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