Skype user numbers grow

New data from eBay shows Skype VOIP services are still picking up many new users, but at a slower rate than in previous quarters, reports PC World.

At the end of March, 196 million people had registered to use Skype. Although eBay hasn't revealed how many of these became regular Skype users after signing up, it's a big leap from the 95 million people who had registered by end of March last year.

However, the rapidly increasing popularity of cable 'digital voice' service from companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable could be taking its toll on Skype's growth.

Many small-business resellers may never have had access to phone revenue before, because they lacked experience selling PBX solutions. But the game is changing, reports CRN.

Hosted VOIP services are not only opening the doors to IP telephony sales, but play to the channel's core strengths in network integration and management.

Now, Microsoft's new Office Communications Server, which will allow resellers to integrate VOIP services with Office applications, promises to open additional avenues for VARs to add value around VOIP without having to wrestle with PBX switches and custom-integration work.

Orange and Vodafone have disabled the Internet telephony option in Nokia's flagship N95 handset, reports ITNews.

Nokia and Orange have both denied the move is a deliberate attempt to defend voice revenue and head off competition from cut-price Internet telephony.

A Nokia spokesperson said Orange had asked for the VOIP functionality to be switched off, but added it is not Orange's policy to remove VOIP from devices.