Skype’s been teasing us with the promise of this for a while now, and we postulated they’d add the feature after Apple revealed iPhone OS 4 would include background VoIP — and yesterday it finally arrived: Skype’s iPhone app now works over a 3G network.
Of course, apps like Goober and Fring have given iPhone users this ability since early this year, But big boy Skype’s adoption of the feature makes for quite a hefty swing at the foundation of the current telecom business model.
Right now, Skype-to-Skype calls over 3G are free, but the company says that’s only guaranteed unitl “at least August 2010,” after which thew’ll most likely begin charging a subscription fee.
Still, a test call I placed to a friend’s cell (she doesn’t have Skype) over 3G using my SkypeOut account revealed pretty good call quality — and considering a basic SkypeOut account (which includes unlimited calls through the U.S. and Canada) is $3 per month, downgrading to a low-minute plan will likely make sense for many, and heavy users in particular.
The one annoying problem is that Skype still doesn’t support use of a Bluetooth headset; nor does it support SIP, only somewhat less annoying. And of course, the really big question is: By how much — because we’re assuming they’re going to shoot up — will the price of those SkypeOut accounts increase?
