Microsoft Skype P2P No Threat to Google Voice Cloud

It's been tempting for media and analysts to look at Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) provider Skype as an assault on the Google Voice cloud calling service.

Google Voice has like as not a few million users, during Microsoft would virtually own the VOIP market, as Skype has some 700 million worldwide users. It is believed that between 150 million and 170 million people actively use the PC-to-PC calling service.

One day, you might so then expect to do a search on Google.com and see links to click-to-call businesses with Google Voice. The mechanism already exists in Google's click-to-call ads, although users are using their mobile phones to make those connections.

An obvious starting point is augmenting Microsoft Lync unified communications for businesses with Skype, nevertheless other services just as Live Meeting, Outlook, Bing, Windows Phone 7 and Xbox could all benefit from Skype's communications properties.

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Did Microsoft pay too much?

Microsoft's announcement of its plan to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion has been greeted with more than the software giant's fair share of derision. Not that the software company has been lacking in haters previously, nevertheless its decision to plunk down such a huge bundle for a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) company, one that barely makes a profit, has been usually described as bordering idiotic.

Some observers claim that Microsoft's desire to spite Google and Apple has clouded its judgment. And, permanently, the company was willing to pay a lot of money in order to claim victory over its biggest rivals.

Heard somewhere that Pyramid Innovation, for instance, believes that the Windows Phone platform will grab market leadership within the at once two years.

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Microsoft pays $8.5bn for an illegal service

A lot has been written about Microsoft’s decision to buy Skype for $8.5bn. Microsoft’s willingness to pay such a vast amount for a loss-making business is but another sign that content and social networking is an area for growth and an essential part of the internet. Skype, the service that provides free voice communication online is one element of this new internet space.

It is nearly-impossible to download Skype in the UAE without proxies and virtual private networks and even if you manage to access the service, the quality of the calls is not great.

The fear is VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services will cut into telco earnings. With the overwhelmingly large expat community in the GCC, this is understandable, nevertheless it goes against fair competition.

The Arab world is asking for freedom, democracy and openness and it began doing so online. If the world’s largest software manufacturer takes over one of the world’s most popular internet services, it should have anyway some sort of impact in the Middle East.

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