“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”. - Casablanca
Microsoft has developed a Skype-style free internet voice service for mobile phones that analysts believe could wipe billions off the market value of cellular operators.
The service is included in a mobile version of Microsoft Office Communicator due to be released this year. The VoIP application allows Office users to make free voice calls over wi-fi enabled phones running Windows Mobile software. It uses the internet as a virtual phone network as well as accessing e-mail, PowerPoint and other Office applications.
“Internet voice does not even have to take market share to force traditional operators to cut their prices. The mere thought of free voice is enough to make customers push for price cuts,” said Cyrus Mewawalla, an analyst at Westhall Capital, predicting a bloodbath for mobile operator stocks.
Microsoft’s service runs on a mobile version of Office, so its appeal initially will be to business users rather than private consumers, say industry observers.
But Ballmer said last week: “Most people have a personal life and they have a professional life. And they want the device that goes in their pocket to give them one glimpse of their information, whether it happens to be part of their private life or part of their professional life.”
Meanwhile, a free, shrunk-down version of the Mozilla open source browser, called Minimo, was announced on Saturday for handheld devices. Third-party browsers like Opera and Minimo can be added to cellphones and tear down the “walled prison” that cellular operators like to erect.
VoIP applications like Skype for the PocketPC and Microsoft’s Communicator seem destined to ignite a revolution. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon.
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