What? Why would I advise you to sell your wireless phone service stock at a time when more and more people are using cells phones for everything? We now get our emails, news alerts, text messages via our cell phones and more and more people are even forgoing their land lines to use a cell phone exclusively. If you have been out lately, people cannot seem to function without their cell phones. How can I possibly advise people not to own stock in this industry?
One word: SKYPE
On Thursday Research In Motion (RIMM), in an stunningly under reported event announced:
SHAPE Services announced today the release of a new version of its IM+ for Skype Software for BlackBerry® smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM).
IM+ for Skype Software by SHAPE Services is a mobile client for Skype Software. It enables voice and text communication with other Skype users as well as cost-effective calling to landline or mobile connections. IM+ for Skype Software uses SkypeOut credits for voice communication ensuring cost-effective calls to any number around the globe. For users of Skype Unlimited plan (only USD 29.95 per year) IM+ enables almost free calling from a BlackBerry smartphone to any PC with Skype or any landline/mobile number. All you need is a BlackBerry smartphone and IM+ for Skype Software installed.
Providing desktop-like access to a familiar Skype experience from any mobile device is the plan of SHAPE Services. In the nearest future the company is going to release versions for Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Windows Mobile Smartphone, Palm OS, Symbian OS and J2ME devices. A WAP version for universal access from low-end devices is also in the company’s plans for the upcoming months.
I guess it was only a matter of time in retrospect as technology in our cell phones advances, desk top like functionality should also.
A $30 annual fee for unlimited calling? The only question here is how fast people will begin buying blackberries and switching to the lowest cost cell plan from their providers. You can buy a blackberry from any provider and instead of paying $100 a month for cell service, pay $30 a year.
Once this catches on cell company profits will tumble..
9 replies on “Sell Your Wireless Phone Service Stocks”
Todd:
Smartphone users with Internet access have been able to use Skype clients for at least two years already. Blackberry is just catching up to where everyone else has already been.
Domestically, the Skype clients really don’t matter much, because heavy cell phone users already get free nationwide long distance. The Skype client primarily matters to people who do a significant amount of business internationally, or who have relatives oversees. For those folks, paying the small fees for Skype Out plus an unlimited data rate on their cell phone has been a cheap alternative to dialing directly using a normal phone, and call quality has generally been pretty good.
A similar cost savings use case is for people who travel internationally for work and need to call the office or home. Some carriers, including Cingular, offer unlimited data while roaming for a small upcharge to customers who already have unlimited data plans.
At that point, calling coworkers or family members who are themselves Skype users becomes nearly free.
To sum up, RIM is trying to jump on the same bandwagon everyone else has already been on for quite some time. There are already established options that don’t require people to run out and buy a Blackberry.
dave,
i am aware it has been around. the blackberry is the #1 smart phone. having it enabled on them will be a huge plus for the service.
there are many technologies out there that do not get noticed until #1 picks them up. this will have a huge effect..
todd
Todd,
In your article you mentioned,
“All you need is a BlackBerry smartphone and IM+ for Skype Software installed.”
Don’t you need a cell phone w/ a data plan as well? The Verizon data plan costs 50 dollars a month by itself. Tack on a voice plan and you’re looking at 90.
Sorry, I meant to say, “Don’t you need a data plan as well.” Obviously the BlackBerry smartphone is a cell phone.
Here is the scenario. currently i pay $40 for a data plan and $89.99 for a calling plan (per month). with this i could drop to the lowest monthly plan ($39.99, just to keep it in case I need it)and use Skype for $30 annually.
this would save me $47 and change a month or $564 annually from my wireless carrier. this is peanuts compared to many people who have $150 or $200 monthly plans. now do the math on the millions of blackberry users and you have a big revenue drop for cell phone co’s.
Todd,
Most Blackberry users get better monthly rates than you do as part of company plans. They also tend to not be paying the bills themselves, so they aren’t going to gain anything from dealing with the hassle of trying to make Skype calls over data connections, except maybe for personal calls.
I’m an IT executive. I support Blackberry, Treo, and other flavors of smartphone users for a living, and I can tell you that very few of them are geeky enough to be willing and able to use Skype on a mobile phone. After the novelty wears off, everyone wants the sort of reliability they are used to with normal cell calls. You don’t get that when making VoIP calls over data connections, because the data connections themselves are less reliable.
Data connections are particularly problematic when moving, such as in a car, taxi, or train. In those scenarios, normal cell calls work, but Skype calls quickly drop.
The best use case for Skype clients on mobile phones is for people who want to make personal calls without having them appear on their company’s cell phone bills. For business use, normal calls still make a lot more sense. Mobile carriers have nothing to fear from Skype for the foreseeable future.
-DaveU
Also do you think its going to be difficult for wireless carriers to block or delay Skype packets in data connections? Voice over Data is a poor subsititute for the millions of dollars wireless carriers and companies like Qualcomm and Motorola have spent to enable better compression of voice and better use of the low bandwidth that voice uses. Many death knells of voice communications have been sounded – walkie-talkie, VOIP over WiFi, Text-Messaging, E-mail – but the American business person likes to pickup the phone dial a few numbers and talk-& talk & talk! Installing a complicated software, paying YET another provider (Skype) and hearing other wordly quality and frequent drops suffered by Skype – is not what the business person wants!
Please dont cry wolf – the sheep are satisfied and sleeping well – and continuing to pay thru their noses to the wireless carrieres!
AM
Todd: You are out of touch with reality. It has been 1 year since your post and RIMM has had strong results along with AT&T and Verizon Wireless. I agree with the earlier responses, users want Reliable voice calls and will not put up with SKYPE’s inferior performance.
anon,
last i checked rimm was not a wireless phone service stock?
verizon’s results have not been due to wireless at&t? iphone..
check out tmobile or sprint?