Skype Ubiquity - Will Set Standards

Skype, announced today a really cool partnership with Broadreach in the UK. Broadreach is a Wifi access provider with what appears to be a lot of AP's and sites that include Virgin Megastores, Eurostar, Travelodge, Moto, Little Chef, Virgin Trains, EAT , Choice Hotels and Quality Inn and major railway stations including all the London terminals.

Skype will be free for anyone using it in a Broadreach hotspot. This is a very powerful statement by a broadband provider that really gets it. By focusing on their key product - delivering pipe - and not the services that run over it, they will cement themselves (and Skype) as a ubiquitous communication service in the UK. I would imagine a series of poster and advertisements popping up in all rail stations, trams, roadside hotspots in the UK praising the free communication, watch Skype penetration and usage in the UK explode, this will be the first mainstream media campaign for Skype and cleverly costing them zilch! Mobile workers will gladly pay the extra 3 pounds or so an hour to access the internet at a Broadreach hotspot, and travelers will subscribe to Skype-In, voicemail and SkypeOut - can you say win-win...