Microsoft spent more than $8 billion to buy Skype and it seemed like everything was hunky dory but Cisco is appealing the approval of the deal by the European Commission because it says the deal could be harmful for the long-term health of video calls in the future.
In a blog post, Cisco makes the point that video calling will eventually be as ubiquitous as voice calls and it is concerned that the Microsoft, Skype deal could put this ubiquity at risk. Cisco makes it clear that it doesn’t outright oppose the deal but it wants the European Commission to require standards-based interoperability conditions in the deal.
This appeal is about one thing only: securing standards-based interoperability in the video calling space. Our goal is to make video calling as easy and seamless as email is today. Making a video-to-video call should be as easy as dialing a phone number. Today, however, you can’t make seamless video calls from one platform to another, much to the frustration of consumers and business users alike.
Cisco also says that Skype’s integration with Microsoft’s Lync platform could lock-in businesses to the company from Redmond, which would be bad for Cisco because it also sells video-calling equipment to business. Still, the larger issue it raises is a legitimate one. Look at Facetime, Skype, Tango and all these other video-calling services and you will notice a stunning lack of interoperability.
we’ll see how this one goes and see what Microsoft has to say in response.
[Via Cisco, image credit]
