Nokia has incurred the wrath of some of the UK’s top mobile operators by bundling a copy of the Skype voice over IP client with its new N97 handset.
Skype allows free or very cheap calls to be made over the Internet by routing voice over IP traffic. This is all well and good if you need a PC to use it but as modern smartphones are highly capable web browsing devices with access to high speed 3G links or even wifi, you can see how people who’ve previously charged you money to talk to your mates might get a tad annoyed.
O2 and Orange in particular have drawn a line in the sand and are demanding that Nokia remove the feature or face having the phone dropped from their line-ups.
So far though, Nokia is sticking to its guns, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out and whether it means that the age of VoIP is finally kicking off in the UK.
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About Stuart Houghton
You have to wonder if this is the moment when network operators can seize the day or be dumbed down to mere pipes. The music industry has been picking up the tab for failing to adapt to the inevitable for many years now. Will the networks make the same mistake?
Absolutely true. Problem with big companies – especially in tough economic times – they never move on the big picture. Actually, as everyone’s posting bad financials, this would be the ideal time to get disruptive.
The big loser here is the end customer. Someone in UK needs to start a petition (maybe on Facebook) to boycott O2 + Orange until they drop their crap.