This week, Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) launched its Skype offering for its N800 Wi-Fi tablets. Skype, which is owned by eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), is a dominant player in peer-to-peer calling and has about 196 million registered users. So long as you call another registered Skype member, the calls are free. And even if you call a non-Skype member, the rates are fairly low.So what does the Nokia deal mean?
I had a chance to interview Dipanshu Sharma, who is a wireless expert and founder of V-Enable. According to him, "I have a N800 and upgraded it with latest software last week, which includes Skype. Got a Skype Out/In account and am receiving home calls on the N800. Call quality is very good.
"So I think the addition of Skype onto Nokia phones will further erode the landline market for the youth that have internet and smartphones. It also affects the long distance market as Skype is giving 2c/min to most European countries. That said, Europe will be a big user of Skype because of reduced long distance costs and no-roaming fees (when on Wi-Fi)."
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.
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