[Asterisk-Users] Skype purchased by Ebay 2.6 Billion

[Colin Anderson]

Oho, now we get to the meat of it:

Mark Hachman, ZDNet:

"In the last few weeks, however, Skype has created a joint venture with
China's top wireless Internet company, Tom Online, and formed a voice
services program that will allow third-parties to provide services over the
Skype network, while asking consumers to pay a small fee from a Skype credit
service to access them. "

"Executives drew parallels between Skype and Paypal, the online payments
service that eBay purchased in 2002 for $1.5 billion in stock. Paypal was
treated as a three-year investment that required the time to mature.
However, Whitman also highlighted a chart tracking eBay's U.K.-specific
site, whose integration of PayPal "altered the [growth] trajectory of that
business," Whitman said. "

"eBay executives also downplayed a recent report by the U.K.'s Financial
Times that China had begun blocking Skype calls. The story was "based
largely on rumors," Whitman said, who didn't deny the report. According to
the FT, the nation had begun blocking Skype calls to ordinary phones that
weren't officially sanctioned as part of a trial involving China Telcom and
China Netcom."

Operative phrases: "Tom Online" (remember the hype about tom.com?) "China"
"Third Parties"  "Small Fee"<--paypal-->"Credit Service" "China Telecom"
"Blocked Calls" "Officially Sanctioned"

Legitimizing Skype with credible brand names to the Chinese like Ebay and
Tom Online to a market with the largest potential telecom installed base in
history?? And then typing a telecom service to a payment service that can
accomodate micropayments, macropayments and everything in between?
Mollifying China Netcom / Telecom (government arm) with assurances that they
will get their cut, and backing it with legitimate name brands like Tom /
Ebay? The more you look at it, this seems like a sensible play 

IIRC, China has the largest GSM network in the world and gets a couple
million new subscribers each month. Also I believe China's broadband
adoption rate is leading the world; I've heard that broadband penetration is
actually shrinking in North America. 

Sleeping dragon, indeed.