Ooh, the No. 1 mobile phone maker is in trouuuuuuuuuuuble. With operators, that is. Specifically, Orange and O2 UK have said they’re “furious” with Nokia’s agreement to embed Skype into its N-series N97 handset and may not carry the so-called "super-device."
Nokia’s latest addition to its Internet services strategy is the embedding of a Skype client in the N97, slated for a summer release, which of course will offer a mobile toll bypass alternative to users. The N97 address book will let users see when Skype contacts are online and will support IM and VoIP calling.
But apparently some Euro-cellcos are mad as heck and they aren’t gonna take it anymore. O2 and Orange may both refuse to carry phones with the Skype feature. ‘This is another example of them trying to build an ecosystem that is all about Nokia and reduces the operator to a dumb pipe,” one operator told Mobiletoday.co.uk this week.
Nokia has been on a path to challenge the carriers’ applications dominance ever since it launched Ovi in August 2007, its Internet services and gaming portal (Ovi is Finnish for “door”). Since then Nokia has added in more in-house services like Comes with Music, and has offered open Internet apps like Facebook integration. Meanwhile, the Apple App Store and its ilk have softened up consumers to the idea of off-deck third-party applications that the carrier has nothing to do with selling.
The controversy sets the stage for a conversation about the role of the handset maker and developers in ownership of the wireless customer, as phones become more like miniature computing platforms. Different carriers see different roles for the open Internet; clearly AT&T Inc. is benefiting from its relationship with Apple, while T-Mobile and European operator 3 are both supporting the Nokia/Skype offer.