Skype Coming to iPhone: Death of Voice Plans?

Hold yer shirt on, it's coming: Skype now says it has an iPhone (News - Alert) app capable of calling over 3G networks 'coming soon.'


Users 'will be able to make free Skype-to-Skype calls or use the paid SkypeOut service that lets them phone landlines and mobiles at significantly cheaper rates. SkypeOut offers unlimited calling within North America, for example, for about $40 a year,' reports industry observer Peter Nowak.

It's possible now that Apple (News - Alert) has changed its SDK, Skype officials say, according to industry observer Michelle Maisto: 'While iCall already offers one, Skype (News - Alert) says it’s waiting until it can offer CD-quality sound, along with other benefits for customers.'

Skype said its 3G-capable Skype for iPhone app was 'imminent since Apple, with the January 27 introduction of the iPad, updated its software development kit, which previously restricted VoIP calling over 3G,' Maisto says.

The Skype for iPhone app currently available just works over Wi-Fi networks. The general consensus on why a 3G app hasn't been available is that AT&T, the exclusive U.S. provider of the iPhone, didn't want one -- you remember how the Google (News - Alert) Voice app couldn't make it with the iPhone. It took the FCC breathing down people's backs to get AT&T to say okay, if you must, we'll put your VoIP iPhone apps on, bypassing our voice service.

What does this mean? Let's hope it means 'the death of cell phone voice plans,' as Nowak suggests.

Technology analyst Rob Enderle, of the Enderle Group in California, tells Nowak the death of the voice plan is 'inevitable,' in Nowak's words: 'Governments and regulators may either eventually force carriers into offering data-only plans, or competitive forces will go to work.'

Carriers 'are going to resist it as long as possible and that's going to drag it on,' Enderle told Nowak. 'Government could say, 'this is a much better way to do things,' or a smaller carrier could use this as a shoehorn to get into the market.'

Interestingly, Maisto reports that iCall, a 'privately held VoIP company,' announced 'the release of an iCall app that allows VoIP calls over cellular networks.' ICall refused to tell reporters if it's owned by Apple or not.

But as industry observer Rachel King noted, that was fast.