Nearly a month has passed since the FCC’s Oct. 22 proposal requiring equal treatment of Web content, regardless of its destination, was posted. Although the comment period doesn’t end for another two months, Skype (News - Alert) executives have a lot to say about the proposal.

 

The video-over-IP provider is a big proponent of the ‘net neutrality’ and supports “a balanced innovation policy where Skype and other companies in the Internet ecosystem thrive,” Christopher Libertelli (News - Alert), Skype’s senior director of government and regulatory affairs, told TMCnet.

 

In an in-depth Q&A, Libertelli revealed to TMCnet the ways the company is working to promote responsible government policies that allow for innovation in technology.

 

“If we automatically subject this new technology to legacy telephone regulation, consumers and business users could miss out on the new features, increased choices, better prices and improved features that Internet-enable communications can deliver,” Libertelli told TMCnet.

 

The second of a two-part Q&A follows.

 

TMCnet: Is Skype working with the FCC (News - Alert) directly, and helping with the development of the ‘net neutrality’ rules? How is Skype more involved with this issue than other Internet service providers?

CL: Skype supports a balanced innovation policy where Skype and other companies in the Internet ecosystem thrive. To this end, Skype is actively working to educate, inform and promote responsible government policies around the world that enable innovation and the many benefits that Internet voice innovations can deliver.

 

Instead, voice is becoming just another application riding on the Internet or on data networks – and is being integrated into web sites, social-networking communities, instant messaging software, blogs, mapping programs, voice recognition applications – and is likely to be used tomorrow in ways we can’t even imagine today.

 

If we automatically subject this new technology to legacy telephone regulation, consumers and business users could miss out on the new features, increased choices, better prices and improved features that internet-enable communications can deliver.

 

It is Skype’s belief that with the right public policies, Internet-enabled communications can increase competition, provide a platform for innovation and drive broadband deployment.

 

On Feb. 20, 2007, Skype filed a petition with the FCC that is designed to protect a Skype user’s right to connect to each other when he or she is using a mobile phone or PDA on the Internet. In addition, Skype submitted comments to the FCC in connection with the national broadband plan proceeding and we intend to be an active participant in the future.

 

Skype believes that primary goal of the Commission’s National Broadband Plan should be to rectify policy gaps to address areas where networks can be more efficiently utilized and to protect the “consumer experience,” including consumer rights to open networks, devices, services, applications and content.

 

The Commission should embrace a “multi-modal” competition policy where each sector of the Internet ecosystem receives the benefits of demand and supply-side investments, all of which benefit Internet access consumers.

 

Skype continues to advocate a consistent wireless openness policy and has met with FCC officials to convince them of the need for continued oversight. Skype has also worked with Free Press, Consumers Union, the Open Internet Coalition and other like-minded parties that share our commitment to innovation and consumer empowerment.

 

CL: In October 2007, Skype entered the wireless market in Europe and Asia when it launched the 3 Skypephone – an affordable mass-market 3G wireless handset with Skype built in. This was done in cooperation with Hutchison 3, a progressive operator that has embraced the Internet and offers its consumers a choice of the best the Internet can offer. They believe that the marriage of mobile devices and Internet communication is an enormous benefit to its customers.

 

A year after launching the 3 Skypephone, we are able to point at clear results, which both demonstrate that users want Skype on their mobiles and that it is good for wireless carriers. In the U.K. alone, well over 500,000 units of the first 3 Skype phones have been sold and over a million minutes of Skype-to-Skype calls take place each day on 3 mobiles.

 

Overall, more than 500 million Skype-to-Skype minutes have been used on 3 mobiles since November 2006, when 3 first allowed users of dozens of different LG, Nokia and Sony Ericsson (News - Alert) handsets to make Skype calls with a 3 “pay as you go” or “pay monthly” calling plan. And, we subsequently launched a second-generation Skypephone and delivered a deep Skype integration for the iNQ1 handset.

 

To illustrate how successful our relationship with 3 has been, consider that, in the U.K. alone, we are already seeing over 1.7 million minutes of Skype-to-Skype calls per day on 3 mobiles.

 

This partnership has demonstrated that even access providers can benefit if wireless networks are open to software innovators of all types.

 

 

CL: The majority of people who access the Internet for the first time over the next ten years will do so on a mobile device. Open mobile devices and networks are the future of communications. Skype sees a future that is more open and connected, to the great benefit of consumers – one where voice is becoming just another application that utilizes the Internet or data networks – and is being integrated into web sites, social networking communities, instant messaging software, blogs, mapping programs, voice recognition applications – and is likely to be used tomorrow in ways we can’t even imagine today.