What is EQO?
The news is currently busy with talk about EQO which is advertised as allowing you to "Take your buddies with you"… meaning your Skype buddies. With news headlines like "EQO’s VoIP Service Makes Skype Mobile", I was intrigued how they had made VoIP reliable on current phone networks. VoIP currently isn’t reliable over GPRS and 3G due to high latency (round trip times).
It turns out EQO doesn’t use VoIP on the phone. Instead it calls you back over the normal phone voice network in much the same way as Global Termination’s GT-SIM. When you make a call, you use the EQO J2ME application to send a call request to the EQO server which calls you back. The server also connects to your (home) PC which runs Skype which, in turn, connects via SkypeOut to your chosen destination. The innovative part is the bit they actually advertise… Allowing you to choose between your Skype buddies on your phone.
The end result is reduced call charges, not free ones as one might expect having previously used Skype. Nevertheless, with calls to landlines from 0.017 Euro per minute, it’s well worth looking into. However, as it says on the Skype site…
"Unless it is specifically mentioned, the SkypeOut Global Rate is only for calling regular landline telephones. Calls to mobile phones are more expensive."
How much more expensive is anyone’s guess.
I gave EQO a try. My first impression was it took too many stages (registering, confirming phone number via sms, downloading etc) to get it all set up. This in itself will put a significant number of people off. Next, the J2ME application relies on a working internet data connection. Not all network operators provide this so I expect they will lose more people at this stage. EQO will have a hard time (read expensive time) supporting all popular phones. They current compatibility list is small. Testing and supporting existing and new J2ME phones will prove an ongoing sink for money.
Anyway, I ran the program and I was impressed it already knew my username. It even connected to my PC (via their server) and I could see my buddies. However, when I made an outgoing call, it just said ‘Connecting…" and nothing happened. Oh well, I suppose it is currently a beta.
It would be interesting to know the EQO strategy and business case. VoIP should become more and more possible in the next few years as the mobile networks improve via HSDPA and latency decreases. If real Skype calls become available via WiFi hotspots or through use of large or ‘unlimited’ data bundles, EQO may become less interesting.