Verizon Wireless and Internet telephony firm Skype have entered into a partnership to bring Skype technology to Verizon Wireless smartphones in March.
Josh Silverman, chief executive officer of Skype, said that: “People want to take their Skype conversations with them wherever they go, whether it’s on a PC, TV or increasingly mobile phones. Verizon Wireless will give US consumers the best Skype experience on mobile phones and will truly change the way people call their friends and family internationally.”
Initially, Skype mobile will be available on nine Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones with data plans, including the BlackBerry handsets, and Motorola’s Droid and Devour models.
The two companies have created an exclusive Skype mobile offering for 3G smartphones, allowing users to make and receive Skype-to-Skype voice calls to other Skype users. It allows users to send and receive instant messages from other Skype users and to remain always connected online.
John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless, said: “For Verizon Wireless’ more than 90 million customers, Skype mobile adds great value because we’re effectively giving customers with smartphones and data plans the option to extend their unlimited calling community to hundreds of millions of Skype users around the globe. And you’re not limited to using a single type of phone; we’ll have nine smartphones ready right at launch in March.”
