This just in: Skype tells mocoNews.net it will be hosting a joint news conference with Verizon Wireless at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week. No word on what this announcement is about, but it will be the first time that a major mobile operator has stood up with Skype.
Will the two announce a deal to route Skype VoIP calls over Verizon’s mobile network? That would be a big move for Skype, of which eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) recently sold 70 percent; it will need to focus harder on its own bottom line now as a separte company.
The only mobile operator that Skype has worked with directly has been 3, the Hutchison-owned operator in the UK. There, they sell co-branded phones and they also have a SIM-only service where they offer free voice calls between Skype users, using 3’s network.
Earlier this week, 3 announced that it had carried one billion Skype calls on its network.
Josh Silverman, the CEO of Skype, has been referring to conversations with other mobile operators for a year now, but this could be the first sign of these talks coming to anything for the VoIP operator.
Tricia will be covering Mobile World Congress proceedings from Barcelona…