Skype is not going to be a monopoly of smartphone users for very long now. Verizon plans to make Skype feature available to “3G multimedia phones” soon. Once this plan comes into action, the non smartphone users would have their hands on the same features and service that are already being enjoyed for free by smartphone users.
Apart from being accessible on normal feature phones, the Skype expansion will also support Korean and simple Chinese. Skype will also be upgraded to include a better user interface with drop-down menus and flags for international calling, Verizon Wireless said.
Skype calling feature made its entry on about a dozen of Verizon’s smartphones earlier this year. The way Skype works on Verizon is different from the way it works on the desktop or other smartphones. Skype on Verizon calls through its CDMA voice network and not VoIP. This allows Verizon Wireless to provide some sort of assurance about what sort of service Skype users should be able to expect.
Verizon declined to talk about which handsets will be able to use the application, nor did it give any exact time frame for the availability of Skype on normal feature phones.