There has been a lot of talk about Skype for the iPhone, which got released to the world today. Some people have been saying it is a game changer that threatens the network operator’s very business model. Others have been saying that the operators will block it to avoid all you can eat 3G plans canabalising voice revenue.
It won’t because Skype for the iPhone will be hamstrung by restricting voice communication over WiFi and not 3G giving it less functionality that Fring or Truefone that have been available for months. Both of these applications allow voice over IP communication on the iPhone and are interoperable with a host of messaging clients such as MSN, AIM, Skype, etc. So does Skype bring anything to the party? Well, yes – it brings a great brand, market presence and unsurpassed usability. These factors should combine to provide a massive boost to non-cellular voice communication on the iPhone.
On the issue of the operators blocking the application, although this is technically possible it really isn’t up to the operator at all. It is up to Apple. Apple has such a stranglehold on the market that they can impose pretty much whatever terms they like on operators. So if Skype convinces Apple that letting users use skype over 3G is a good thing then Apple stand a decent change of forcing the operators to follow suit.
Seems I might have been wrong on my last point, however this article seems rather confused
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/iphone/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216402527&subSection=All+Stories