On Monday, Skype announced a low-bandwidth version of its service, designed to be more appealing to carriers in parts of the world where 3G service isn’t available.
Skype’s Mobile Partner Program is characterized as a “simplified operator program that uses a purpose-built client-server solution”. The software is optimized for low-bandwidth environments.
“We see a growing demand for differentiated services from mobile operators across the world ,” said Russ Shaw, vice president and general manager of Mobile at Skype. “Our mobile operator program will give operators in emerging markets the possibility to tap into the global Skype community while providing a great user experience on a variety of mobile handsets.”
In parts of the world, such as Africa, more and more users are signing onto mobile networks as a way to bypass the need for a wired infrastructure. A 2009 report by the United Nations, for example, showed that the mobile-hpne usage had risen more than 550 percent in five years, with phones being shared by whole villages, if not owned directly by individuals.
The software will minimize data usage and maximize battery life, according to Skype. The announcement isn’t the only low-bandwidth offering announced at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona this week; also on Monday, Facebook said it had signed a deal with Gemalto to provide its service via SMS.
According to Skype, the new program will cover a range of OS platforms running on over 100 different smartphones from a variety of vendors. Skype will operate normally on top of the new platform, offering its standard mix of free calls to other Skype customers, and per-minute rates to other phones.