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Mar. 15, 2009

There are still some rumors that Google Voice might possibly change the telecom industry in some very fundamental ways, even if there are still many skeptics.

Nevertheless, a new Google-based voice service combined with the large size of the company’s existing user base is raising some eyebrows around the wireless industry, and there are some that are taking notes.

Hal Steger, v.p. of marketing for Funambol says “I think the implications are pretty far reaching. Anyone who is using Gmail can initiate a free voice call from their computer using whatever phone you want.”

Google's technology isn't even new and has been employed for years. The user enters the number for the phone they’d like to use and the number for the phone they’d like to call and the service simultaneously rings both numbers, placing a free voice call.

In July 2007, Google acquired Grand Central, an Internet-based voice service. Since then, it’s been using Grand Central as a starting point for the evolution of Google Voice. The rest, as they say, is history.

The new service provides users with one life-long unique number that links to all the user’s other phone numbers such as landline, cell, work, hotel, etc.

One call to that single Google Voice number can ring a handful of lines. Google said its service is open to Grand Central users and should be available to the general public within the near future.

The search giant didn't give a definitive timeline for general release, however.

Now, Skype may be the first to feel the impact. Google Voice differs from Skype in that it isn’t a VoIP solution but rather it is an Internet-based telephony communication. But the extent of Google’s service and the breadth of offerings far exceed those currently offered on the Skype service.

Overall, international rates also will be a lot cheaper than those on Skype.

For its part, Skydeck, a service that is almost identical to the one Google is rolling out today, may see increased competition as well. Skydeck was a 2009 SXSW Technical Achievement Web Awards Finalist and was given the Boldest Idea award at MobileBeat last year.

The service is currently available for $9.95 per month. Here's a very basic question for you: if Google’s service is free, where does that leave a small start-up like Skydeck?

Google says its new service will offer free transcription and search of voicemails, free U.S. calls, Web-based filing and browsing of text messages, call blocking and filtering features, free conference calls, as well as incredibly cheap international calls, at just 2 or 3 cents per minute.

But if services such Skype and Skydeck are feeling Google’s impressive shadow, wireless operators are undoubtedly watching carefully as well...

“The broader implications for the mobile industry is that Google is starting to encroach on the turf of the mobile and wireless operators. They’re starting to provide voice capabilities,” Steger says.

But he doesn’t see any immediate regulatory backlash in the near future. However, Steger did say that things could get interesting down the line. “If it gains a lot of momentum in the market then I think you’re going to hear a lot of bellyaching from mobile operators around the world about how Google is affecting their business,” he said.

Steger sees Google's Android platform as being affected as well. Because Android is essentially a free platform and mobile developers will be able to cheaply integrate the new Google Service on Android handsets, operators may shy from carrying those handsets on their networks.

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Source: Google.