Most people have realized that they love their iPhone but yet they think that it is not the best device to actually talk. People (including myself) sometimes use skype for iPhone (using their paid service called skypeout) to make calls to other people (landlines and cellphones) because the call quality is much better and there is no risk of dropped calls (specially when u are on imp calls and u have no landline to call from.
I was thinking whether ATT could partner with someone like Skype and automatically use the Wifi network to make calls when there is not a great reception. Obviously there must be technical issues in achieving this but I hope that you guys get the idea. There could be Rev-share arrangement between ATT and Skype (or anyone for that matter). But imagine how much it would improve ATT's reputation.
Mary Meeker, MD for Morgan Stanley ( a very well respected Internet and Telecom Research stalwart) was at Y! yesterday as a guest speaker and she admitted to using Skype for making calls from her iPhone. Hence, I was hoping that I am not the only wierd person doing this..
I know I am missing something very obvious here and there is some flaw in my thinking.
I guess I wonder why Skype would want to share revenue with AT&T when you can use any device that is Wifi enabled to make Skype calls, or why AT&T would want to admit their network needs to be supplemented with wifi.
ReplyDeleteAT&T would prefer you use their network at all times. The more you use Skype and wifi to make calls, the less revenue for AT&T. Since wireless service is largely differentiated between brands based on devices and quality, it would be a big blow to AT&T to do something that essentially admits their signal isn't as strong as it should be.
Additionally, AT&T has a pretty low churn rate despite the dissatisfaction that people seem to have with their services (https://www.trefis.com/company?article=17410#). As the article points out, part of that is due to iPhone exclusivity (15% of AT&T subs are iPhone users, according to the article) and part of that is due to subs being on family plans and corporate plans, so they are locked in.
If and when the iPhone is on other carriers, AT&T might have a problem on their hands, but it will take time for those subs to complete their contracts.
Yeah, I don't think it's any sort of marketing benefit for AT&T. You're basically admitting that people can't get the service they're paying for. I'm paying $35 a month right now for a wireless phone that rarely works. So, a big middle finger to them if they ever remind me just how much they suck by saying "if while in the middle of a major city, and we can't give you the reliable service we promised in our advertising, head to your closest WiFi location and see if they can give you reliable service instead by following the subsequent steps: Download Skype, login to your new Skype account using the phone you bought from one of our partners, pay whatever fee the WiFi location is charging, and then let all of those people take care of you instead of us - but by the way, you still owe us $35 a month." Honestly, writing this makes me just hate AT&T more. Fuck 'em all.
ReplyDeleteTrue,
ReplyDeleteLooks like Skype is a workaround that users have figured out for AT&T. If they do a Rev. Share with Skype, I guess they are admitting this. As WiFi networks progress and become ubiquitous, this is only going to get worse for AT&T if they don't improve their service. I guess one interesting option would be to buy into Skype as it just got divested by EBay as a short term fix and not charge their customers.