Skype widens its global embrace with Nokia deal

by Stevie Smith - Feb 17 2009, 11:08

With VoIP communication via eBay-owned Skype having already pulled in more than 400 million users, the hugely popular telephonic service is now looking to garner even more global saturation thanks to a partnership deal with mobile phone giant Nokia Corp.

Announced at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Skype will be bundled as preloaded software on select Nokia handsets by the third quarter of 2009, and will likely provide Skype with a massive boost seeing as Nokia is the world’s leading mobile phone maker.

Speaking with the Reuters news agency from the Mobile World Congress show floor, Skype CEO Josh Silverman enthused that the company believes the mobile phone market “is incredibly important to our future.”

According to Silverman, Nokia will roll Skype out on various handsets including its upper-tier N-series phones, with the touch-screen N97 being lined up as the first to carry the communication service. The N97 is presently expected to hit retail before the end of this coming summer.  

While downloading Skype onto mobile phones after purchase is already possible, preloaded access should provide users with better, more efficient integration alongside other features and functions on their handsets.

Although some may see bundled access to Skype as something of a potential detriment to carrier service profits, Silverman points out that networks such as 3 have seen revenue averages improve by around 20 percent with those users taking advantage of Skype through flat-rate data plans who then expand usage to include other 3 services.

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