Skype and 3 Moving Closer

When I was in the UK last weekend for a few days before heading to MIPCOM in Cannes France, I took the advice of Truphone's James Body and signed up for a pay as you go SIM with 3, the Hutchison mobile play in the UK that is called the "fifth" carrier.

Like T-Mobile they offer an unlimited data plan or what the like to call "fair use" where for about 2 dollars a day you get to be online with your 3G phone. This is great for bloggers and tourists who want to upload photos, or use services like Skype on a mobile device like a Nokia N95 that has UMTS built in.

Now it seems Skype and 3 are moving even closer with some new handsets where Skype is already native.

My experience in London with 3G on both T-Mobile and 3 was stunning. Both offered solid speeds of between 500-800k with very low latency and solid connectivity on both my handset, unlocked Sierra Wireless 875U Aircard and my Flybook. Also, Skype sounds even better and Skype video looks even better. It will be interesting to see how this new arrangement with a new device causes users to adopt data plans and how they migrate from their circuit switched plans. What will also be interesting is if the Skype phones lock out other players entering the game.