Internet service provider OpenWeb is now offering free Skype landline calls as an addition to its Free Calls Beta service.
Last week, the ISP announced a Session Initiation Protocol service that would allow any of its customers to make free calls to landlines within SA and 66 other listed companies.
The service, which ran through a separate Internet Explorer application, has now been extended to run through Skype and is still being provided to OpenWeb users free of charge.
OpenWeb says it has not signed any deals with Skype and will absorb the costs of the calls.
“The initial period of free calls runs until 5 September 2010, upon which we will evaluate the success of the campaign. If successful, we will consider a way forward,” says the ISP.
World Wide Worx Strategy MD, Steven Ambrose, said last week that he expected the uptake of the Free Calls Beta service to be limited, as people were likely to stick with services they knew, such as Skype.
In reaction to the latest announcement, he says: “It makes perfect sense for OpenWeb to use Skype infrastructure, to piggy back. They have carefully considered their positioning. But it is just marketing to attract users. They are probably hoping to attract new people from similar services, but it is only a promotion and not a permanent offering. It is just an example of good business.”
He emphasises that ISPs are going to have to add more value to their services as it is very difficult to sustain a small ISP and compete with the big players such as MTN and MWeb.
“You have to have innovative add-on type services.”
Says World Wide Worx MD, Arthur Goldstuck: “It's a great example of a provider being realistic about the market and consumers, not assuming users will change the way they do things.”
He agrees with Ambrose though, that the offer is most likely a marketing strategy.
“Such services can be of great advantage to an ISP in countries where calls are free and they only have to worry about set-up costs, but in SA absorbing the costs long-term could be disastrous.”
He says the company may be able to sustain the service through advertising, but this strategy has not proved viable elsewhere. “The only explanation is that they are getting people to sign up for a paid service in the hope they will stay and make use of other paid-for services.”
Goldstuck cautions: “With the cost of local landline calls, they could find themselves in trouble very fast”.
OpenWeb says the offer is available to all OpenWeb profile holders, new or old, and that users can expect the same quality of call they get using Skype. However, there will be a 15-minute limit on phone calls during the trial.
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