News Report # 5

Skype Means Business
John C Abell 3-23-2009

Skype has about 405 million registered users, but the average revenue per user was only about $1.35 last year. They have recently launched a new program to try and increase revenue, while also benefiting the end user. E-bay bought Skype in 2005 and has not been able to make any money off of the internet communication giant. There has actually been talk of E-bay trying to sell Skype back to its original founders. With new Skype calls, a user would be able to make a call or receive a call from another user for absolutely nothing, and approximately two cents would be the cost to make a call to a non-user. There are benefits for the user, but there are also drawbacks. A WiFi network is often used for internet connection for the calls to be made. Keeping a headset on to make business calls within a wireless network can easily be a pain for a Skype user. Also, the computer has to be in a “hot spot” for the program to be running at all. Cisco, Vonage, and a startup like Truphone are large competitors to Skype, and they bring in more revenue through various other business aspects.
I think that Skype needs to figure out a way to make more revenue. I use Skype to communicate with people out of the country, or in other states that I have not seen in a while. To think of that service as free is really cool, but it is not good for anyone who is working for Skype and expecting to make a lot of money.