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Skype and Bebo Join Forces to Deliver Free IM, Voice and Video Calls to Students WorldwideSAN JOSE, Calif. & SAN FRANCISCO --(Business Wire)-- Feb. 9, 2006 -- Bebo Launches Integrated SkypeWeb Capability for Free Member Presence Detection, Internet Chat and Video Calling Skype(TM), the global Internet communications company, and Bebo, the next generation high school and college social network, today announced an agreement to integrate SkypeWeb into the Bebo Web site as a free, co-branded Internet calling service. The Bebo-Skype Web service will provide Beboers worldwide with instant messaging (IM), voice and video calling and presence detection, which allows them to see other Beboers' online status. "As the largest social networking site in the UK and Ireland, and one of the largest in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, we are in a unique position to enable high school and college students worldwide to easily connect, learn more about each other and keep in touch - all without breaking the bank," said Jim Scheinman, Vice President of Business Development and Sales at Bebo. "Since instant messaging, voice and video chat have long been top requested features by Beboers, we believe this new offering is a perfect fit. Bebo and Skype share a vision for simple, high-quality services that allow people to stay in touch and express themselves online." With more than 22 million registered Beboers worldwide, Bebo's social network enables students to stay in touch with their friends and family, find long lost friends and meet new people. In addition to the Bebo-Skype Web service, members enjoy a variety of fun and helpful online applications that make it easy to remember birthdays, share photos & videos, blog, Bebo mail, discover new music and other interests and just hang out. SkypeWeb allows people to see Skype users' online status and call or chat with them from any Web site and to Skype people from each site with the simple click of a mouse. More than 50 Web sites have integrated SkypeWeb to allow users to let others know when they are free and make it easy to reach them through Skype. Available in 27 languages, Skype is used by people in almost every country around the world, and Skyping has become a global phenomenon. The latest version of the software has further simplified the Skype interface, making it even easier for people to see and speak with their family, friends and colleagues. "At Skype, our goal is to help people build and sustain relationships online," said Saul Klein, vice president of global marketing for Skype. "SkypeWeb, launched today, is the evolution of this philosophy. Working with industry leaders like Bebo allows us to extend the reach of that vision, and we look forward to a long and productive relationship." About Bebo Bebo is the next generation social network that enables high school and college students to stay in touch with their friends, find long lost friends and meet new people. Officially launched in July 2005, in just 7 months, the social network has more than 22 million registered members viewing over 700 million monthly page views. The privately-held company is operated by an experienced management team in San Francisco, Calif. The CEO and founder launched one of the first social networking sites, Ringo.com which he later sold to Tickle (now part of Monster), and Bebo was recently joined by the former head of business development at Friendster. In addition, the Bebo.com team runs another word of mouth marketing site, BirthdayAlarm.com, which has 40 million members. For more information, visit www.bebo.com or email [email protected]. About Skype Skype is the world's fastest-growing Internet communication offering, allowing people everywhere to make unlimited voice and video communication for free. Skype is available in 27 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Skype generates revenue through its premium offerings such as making and receiving calls to and from landline and mobile phones, as well as voicemail and call forwarding. Skype also has relationships with a growing network of hardware and software providers. Skype is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY). To learn more visit skype.com. Skype is not a telephony replacement service and cannot be used for emergency calling. |
