The iPhone Goes Voip With Skype 2.0 over 3G

I remember when Skype was first released for iPhone. I was at breakfast with some friends, and we all were trying it out, only to realize that we could not make calls on 3G. This was of course a big disappointment, but we still found it pretty wild that we could call each other for free, even if it was just over Wifi.

As a person who worked for years in a large telecommunications company, I can share an inside secret with you.  A lot of these large corporations who depend on the mobile market, are all very concerned with the proliferation of VOIP technology. If you are not familiar, VOIP stands for Voice Over IP, or the ability to transfer your voice via the Web as opposed to land or cellular lines.
If the predictions are accurate, and VOIP is going to dominate the market over the next few years, this can drastically change the mobile market, as well as many other industries. For starters, this will lower prices, as VOIP calling is generally much more affordable than regular calling. Another consequence of the VOIP trend, which occurred to me recently, would be the reduction of the mobile radiation risks we hear so much about. The way radiation works is, the harder the phone has to work to communicate with the cell towers, the more radiation it emits. If phones only had to communicate with the internet and not cell towers, that would completely change the picture. Meanwhile, I use tawkon to avoid radiation from my BlackBerry. (hope it gets approved soon for iPhone too.)

When it comes to VOIP technology, the most well known name and the industry leader is Skype. Skype has the widest user base out of all the VOIP providers, and so when the iPhone app was announced, it was a big deal. However, as of  two days ago, Skype 2.0 is out and it now supports 3G. What this means is that you can now make calls from your iPhone to Skype for free from anywhere.
With the new iPhone 4.0 OS coming out next month, the ability to run Skype in the background means iPhone users are now able to be reached for free on their phones via Skype. I have not tried it out yet, but all initial reviews claim that the voice quality is very on par with regular calls.

As of now, Skype calling over 3G is free to Skype and available at the reduced Skype rates if you are calling a phone. As of the end of August, according to the app’s page on iTunes, there will be a small monthly fee for the service.
For the record, VOIP calling is available on other platforms as well with the Fring Android app and the Nimbuzz BlackBerry app.
The release of the new Skype for iPhone also offers some other new features or should I call them “enhancements”. These include faster startup time, fast access to the Skype dial pad from the phone’s home screen, and others.

We will wait to see what this service will cost, but whatever the case may be, the ability to use VOIP on your mobile phone whenever and wherever, is a definite step in the right direction, and one that might change this multi billion Dollar industry forever.