September 21, 2005 - (HOSTSEARCH.COM) - A leading Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) authority has suggested eBay’s $2.6 Billion acquisition of Skype may not have been the most prudent of moves. With a warning that the VoIP market is potentially going the way of dot.com’s with over inflated valuations, Nadahl Shocair, CEO of DeTeWe UK warned that services such as Skype are unlikely to become extremely popular as they do not allow the use of traditional handsets. As a result they are likely to remain in the domain of the technology driven rather than the general public. Shocair warns, “For eBay to bid $2.6bn for Skype is just insane – eBay could have used any chat programme to deliver exactly the same service to customers. Sure, there may be some incremental value to current eBay customers, but eBay is not going to become the next big VoIP player. To be really successful in VoIP terms, you need to be about more than just the technology or "disrupting" the old phone system. To really make commercial inroads, it’s got to be just as simple to use as the existing options – or hopefully, simpler. In addition, the service has got to be priced right so as to ensure that consumers feel compelled to make the switch.” He added, “I think you’d also have to ask the question as to whether this deal really represents good value for eBay shareholders. To those of us who’ve been in the telecoms market for 20 or 30 years, this smacks of the dot.com days, and the vastly over-inflated valuations for acquisition targets that were a feature of those times.” With fierce speculation of eBay’s intentions, the coming months should prove extremely interesting.
