This is some good thinking and contemplation from Dina. What are the current download totals are for Skype?
Skype charging model - how much will you pay ?.
Stuart asks .... What Will You Pay for Skype?, in a post that builds scenarios for a possible consumer structure that will lead to a charging model for Skype Individual accounts. Don't miss the comments there either.
My response :
Let me give it a shot. Though must say that currently i'm thoroughly enjoying the free beta version and making real good use of it. Difficult to think 'pay' .... but ....
A few considerations in calculating how much i'm willing to pay for skype basic or premium (hope my USD conversions are accurate:):).
1. Local calls here cost about 2 cents per min - and my average landline tel bill is about USD 40 per month.
2. My cell phone bill is approx. another 30 USD a month. My husband's is almost the same - an additional 30 USD per month or so.
3. International calls, say to the US, cost anywhere between 15 cents per min to 70 cents per minute. With family and friends abroad, we earlier paid about 40 USD per month. This has come down considerably with IM - to about 20 USD a month now.
So a total of about 120 USD on telephone bills (incl. rental) per month. Add to that my DSL link server charges of almost 20 USD per month.
Skype, in its current form - seems to take care of some international call bills - currently where i pay about 20 USD a month - even a premium offering (with facilities like call waiting/hold,voice mail and answering) at 8-10 USD a month would be super. Not sure yet about benefits in making local calls - except that its free currently, as opposed to the 2 cents we pay per minute per call.
I find most of my folk abroad are connected to a PC at some point in the day or the other - so shouldn't be a problem.
Yet when i think of the millions of Indian parents here with children abroad - not all are computer-friendly nor do they have dsl or broadband connections. So for them, an offer of phone-to-skype or skype-to-phone would be wonderful - (not sure how the tech works and may be difficult to standardise billings across regions etc) - if available at a cost cheaper than 15 cents a minute (indicative costs from India to the US).
Skype could potentially tie-up with dsl/broadband service providers and work on a banded offer with them. Benefit for them - get more people skype-friendly; benefit for users - they're always on; benefit for computing in general - simply more people introduced to the world of the internet and are connected !
End of the day - i wouldn't mind an annual cost of about USD 30 for basic services and USD 50 for premium services. Billing in three ways :
- either by way of special international skype-skype call rates
- or a total package that includes skype-to-skype calls - local and international
- or free skype-skype calls and a small fee for phone-skype or skype-to-phone calls - both local and international
Makes sense ? How much would you pay ?
[Conversations with Dina]
