Mar 20 2009
Nimbuzz marries Skype with G3 phones
In a (potentially) sensational move, Nimbuzz, the Amsterdam-based software company part-owned by Naspers, bridged the gap between G3 phones and VoIP with a clever little app today.
Now you can Skype your friends anywhere in the world with your iPhone at no cost, as long as you do it to their computers. And you’ll pay the low Skype rates, if you phone to their landlines and mobile phones anywhere in the world.
You could also use the service known as Nimbuzz Dial-up VoIP to speak to your Nimbuzz buddy in Timbuktu for the price of a local call. All you need, is a free Nimbuzz application on your iPhone, which can be downloaded in the Apple App Store.
This sounds like “one small step for Nimbuzz, one giant leap for mankind”. This is what an early adopter thought.
One question remains: What about Telekom (T-Mobile), which has contracted with Apple for the exclusive rights to market the iPhone in Germany. This exclusive agreement also makes T-Mobile the only one to sell 2-year phone contracts for the iPhone, making it the sole beneficiary from every call made on iPhones in Germany.
But, now Nimbuzz brought Skype in play for iPhones, which will, no doubt, erode T-Mobile’s income from calls made on the T-Mobile network from iPhones. Does T-Mobile not have a claim for damages against Apple? Alternatively, against Nimbuzz?
Interesting question. We’ll have to wait and see how this all turns out…
Boy, did I get this one right! I mean the point that Telekom Germany and its subsidiary T-Mobile might not like the idea that one can now Skype for free on an iPhone in Germany.
A few days ago it started buzzing in the German media: Telekom had decided to block the Nimbuzz and all other apps which enable iPhone users in Germany to sidestep the Telekom mobile network and phone for free with Skype.
But, already then there were voices saying T-Mobile might be heading for trouble for doing this.
Today the Financial Times Deutschland published a long article on the resistance building against the T-Mobile decision to block Skype on iPhones in Germany.
One interest group called The Voice on the Net (VON) even took its case to the European Commission. The ground? The block damages consumer rights.
Now for the killer tit-bit: Among the members of VON count…wait for it….Google, Microsoft and Intel.
Christo