Microsoft Axes Skype for Three

Crabman

Email received from Skype:

Three marketed this as "Free Skype to Skype calls on 3 FOREVER."

Skype are now retiring this version which means it won't be usable. I asked them over a live chat support session whether they would be "not supporting it" or "retiring it" and it was confirmed to be the latter. This means that those who use Skype for Three will have their Skype use terminated at the end of September.

What are customers' options now? Three claimed it would be free forever.

redux

They already ceased it quite a long time ago for some customers, including the so-called 3 Skypephone

cklass

'Free forever' and 'free Skype-to-Skype calls forever' promise different things. The former promises that they will never charge for this service, but it doesn't imply that the service will be available forever. The latter, on the other hand, does imply that the service will be available forever. Either way, it's likely that the terms and conditions of the service allow for it to be withdrawn at any time regardless of what the marketing suggested.

I remember this was also brought up a while ago when Three's Skypephone services were discontinued. Some people contacted the Ombudsman to complain, but I don't know what the outcome was.

I am guessing the service is being discontinued because it is no longer a big draw for Three. iPhone users are more likely to use Facetime and others can use Skype via wifi or data. Only a small number of people are likely to be affected by the discontinuation of the service.

Frozen_up_north

I posted an item about this a couple of days ago. The legacy 3 Skypephone is currently still working, I have one and it's been very handy for a number of years. At least it rings reliably when someone calls me on Skype, which is something the iPhone App doesn't do very well.

It's being discontinued by Skype/Microsoft, not by 3, as Skype are forcing all users of older Skype software (including Windows desktop) to update to later versions... For reasons claimed to be call quality related, but being the cynic that I am, I suspect they are being pressured into it by the NSA in order to more easily eavesdrop on Skype calls.

gjchester

Crabman wrote: »

Three marketed this as "Free Skype to Skype calls on 3 FOREVER."

What are customers' options now? Three claimed it would be free forever.

You need to take it up with Three, they marketed it, no Skype or Microsoft. What were the T&C around it always being available and Free.

You may also want to alter the title, Is't not quite Skype for Three, its specific old version of Skype, as the email sauys Three users on IOS/Android/Windows phone/ Blackberry will see no change in their service.

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

For reasons claimed to be call quality related, but being the cynic that I am, I suspect they are being pressured into it by the NSA in order to more easily eavesdrop on Skype calls.

Leaving aside conspiracy theories, its probalby that if there are old software versions there is a huge overhead to maintain compatability.

The number of Three Skypephones is small and unless Three wish to pay for the current software version to be ported over to the Skype pheon then its not worth the cost to Microsoft.

Software gets upversioned all the time,

Crabman

gjchester wrote: »

Leaving aside conspiracy theories, its probalby that if there are old software versions there is a huge overhead to maintain compatability.

It is hardly a "conspiracy theory" given the facts that have emerged in recent times.

I use Skype on my up-to-date handset but as another member has said, the Skype phone is reliable and simply works well. There is a difference between not supporting a product and actively retiring it.

It would be different if there was a change (e.g. closure of the 3G spectrum) that rendered the phone unusable, but this is not the case.

mrochester

Crabman wrote: »

It is hardly a "conspiracy theory" given the facts that have emerged in recent times.

I use Skype on my up-to-date handset but as another member has said, the Skype phone is reliable and simply works well. There is a difference between not supporting a product and actively retiring it.

It would be different if there was a change (e.g. closure of the 3G spectrum) that rendered the phone unusable, but this is not the case.

I've heard something about Skype changing the way that calls are routed and connected, which requires a re-write of the client software, and hence old and out of date versions are being retired as they will no longer actually be able to work with the service.