Skype signs up with first 3G mobile partner

Skype has announced it has signed a deal with its first mobile operator.

The net telephony firm has agreed a partnership with the third largest German mobile operator, E-Plus, which will offer its customers free use of Skype's voice over IP (VoIP) service as part of its flat-rate data subscription package for 3G data card users.

Under the terms of the deal, Skype will continue as E-Plus' exclusive VoIP supplier. Skype has already notched up 2.8 million users in Germany and will now gain access to a proportion of E-Plus' 9.8 million customers.

No details are available yet on how many E-Plus customers are using Skype, as the €39.95 tariff was launched yesterday.

Amrish Kacker, senior consultant at research firm Analysys, said the move into the mobile market is not as significant for Skype as it may first appear.

"To get into the mainstream, it needs to be part of the [data] packages that work on a per [megabyte] basis - not everyone is going to want to spend €39.95," he said. "But once you get down to that level, you open up more complexities - you have to pay for the data used to transmit the voice call."

Skype has also hinted it plans to venture further into mobile territory. Skype CEO Niklas Zennström said the VoIP provider has its eyes on a more global mobile strategy. "We look forward to working with other innovative mobile operators around the world," he said in a statement.

The company is already working with mobile handset manufacturers, including Motorola, to develop Skype-enabled devices.

A new study from analysts Evalueserve predicts Skype will have an important impact on the world of telecoms, felt most strongly in Europe.

According to the report, the per-minute charging methods used by both fixed and mobile operators will put them at risk of customer churn towards Skype. Evalueserve predicts operators can expect a drop in revenue of between five and 10 per cent by 2008 - solely due to Skype.

Profitability will be hit even harder, falling by 22 to 26 per cent by 2008, when Skype is expected to have between 140 and 245 million users worldwide.