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What Completed Skype-Microsoft Deal Could Mean for Consumers

14.10.2011
Microsoft announced today that it has mostly wrapped up its acquisition of the Internet communications company Skype. The $8.5 billion deal has received approval from the major regulators, the and the European Union, although a few holdouts remain--Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Taiwan--which are expected to fall into line shortly.

Now that Skype is in the Microsoft fold, the question in many consumers' minds--especially the 170 million that actively use the service--is what the change of ownership will mean to them.

If you're a user of Skype, chances are you won't see much change. Microsoft has vowed to continue support for the service's standalone client, which allows voice and video calls, as well as instant messaging, to be placed over an IP connection.

If you use Microsoft products, more intriguing possibilities may be in store for you, as the Redmond folks start integrating Skype into their offerings.

One obvious fertile place for the application is in Microsoft's mobile phone platform, Windows Phone 7. Skype already offers flavors of itself for the Apple iPhone and Android handsets, and a WinPho 7 version will no doubt be available in short order. Down the road, though, Skype could be tightly integrated into the mobile OS, giving it capabilities such as video conferencing that's more robust than in the Skype standalone app and VoIP connections over a wireless connection--although the carriers will have something to say about features like that.