Well, this isn’t going to please phone companies.
As you may remember, last year Microsoft bought Skype, the infamous VOIP service that’s been winding up phone providers for years. Well, Skype are now working on versions of their service for Microsoft’s three biggest platforms (Xbox, Windows 8 and Windows Mobile), as well as integrating with Facebook.
This is big news, as it means that more and more people will be buying devices with Skype pre-installed (many Android phones also feature it), which, combined with ever increasing Wi-Fi connectivity and smartphone battery life, means that actual phonecalls could well take a dip in the next few years.
So, why don’t phone companies like this? Well, frankly, it costs them more. A data connection requires more bandwidth than a simple voice or text connection, and is also more expensive to maintain. This means that the same five minute phonecall you make ends up costing them far more than it would normally, and leaves them unable to charge you any more as it’s part of your data allowance.
Now, there are probably a few people out there who have dealt with customer service departments at various companies who may welcome this news, but it might not be all that great. Increased data usage will likely mean Telcos imposing tighter limits on data use – and when you consider that Cisco’s predictions for the future of internet usage look like this:
It’s not hard to see that our current infrastructure simply isn’t going to be enough.
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