Yahoo! Inc. has offered VoIP functionality calling for several years, and analysts yesterday said the company’s enhancements its VoIP services are intended to remind consumers the Internet giant will stand up to Skype Technologies S.A.
Yahoo! said yesterday it has upgraded its VoIP services to include PC-to-phone calling, inbound calling, better integration with features in the Yahoo! Messenger client and, most notably, prices ranging from 1 cent per minute to U.S. destinations and 1.9 cents per minute to 30 countries.
“There is some internal frustration at Yahoo! about the fact that Skype is grabbing all the VoIP headlines when Yahoo! has been offering PC-to-PC calling for five years and Webcam-based video calling for several years as well,” said Jan Dawson, principal analyst at research firm Ovum. “This announcement is an attempt to set the world straight on the current state of both providers' offerings, but it is hard to imagine that Yahoo!'s relatively tame announcement will be able to compete with Skype's stated intention to destroy the current phone industry.”
Skype is owned by Yahoo! rival eBay Inc. Dawson said, to be successful, Yahoo! should compete on the context of its wider offerings, not with the intent to undercut Skype’s pricing. “For a successful and profitable business to begin changing its entire outlook because of a wildly unprofitable upstart competitor before its business model is even proven would be premature,” Dawson said.
Yahoo! has not said when it will launch its new paid features – Yahoo! Messenger is mostly a free service – but noted it will happen soon. The features will cost approximately $30 per year.
Ovum www.ovum.com
Skype Technologies S.A. www.skype.com
Yahoo! Inc. www.yahoo.com
