NiklasZennstrom
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FreedomPop plans to give away mobile internet, still make money somehow
"Freemium" mobile broadband outfit FreedomPop has pulled back the curtain on how it plans to make money while giving away 4G internet. In an interview with GigaOm, Marketing VP Tony Miller revealed that once it has got enough consumers hooked on the gratis data, his company will start selling premium features, potentially including a VoIP solution for the network, now supplied by Clearwire after the collapse of LightSquared. The company will also charge a penny for every megabyte used over the free monthly allowance (currently pegged at 1GB) and build a social network where more data can be earned and traded between friends. Alongside the WiMAX shell for the iPhone, we can also expect to see an iPod Touch edition, USB dongle and mobile hotspot arrive before the network's launch. The company doesn't have too long to iron out the kinks in the business plan however, as it'll go live in the third quarter of 2012.
Skype co-founder's latest company signs deal with LightSquared, promises free broadband and voice services
A mysterious startup promising free wireless broadband and voice services to all Americans should rightly prompt a fair bit of skepticism, but FreedomPop isn't quite your average fly-by-night organization (despite appearances). It's backed by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, and it's just signed an agreement with LTE wholesaler LightSquared to provide the backbone for the service. Unfortunately, details remain decidedly light otherwise. The company says that the service will launch sometime in 2012 (LightSquared's network itself is slated to go live in the second half of the year, though it still faces some hurdles), and it will apparently be focused on serving markets most in need of wireless broadband initially, before rolling out across the country. As FierceCable notes, the service brings to mind the many free internet dial-up services of the 1990s, which relied largely on advertising, although it remains to be seen if that's the route FreedomPop has in mind.
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XLVI: Skype's former CEO admits eBay paid too much
Apparently former Skype CEO and co-founder Niklas Zennstrom isn't just one to take the money and run. No, he found time in his busy schedule to confess that eBay paid too much for Skype, which is something that's become increasingly evident to eBay in the past months: the company is cutting up to $1.2 billion off the $4.3 billion potential price it agreed to with Skype two years ago. "We had to chart the trajectory of growth and how fast that would run, (but) we found out that was a bit front-loaded," said Zennstrom. "We overshot in terms of monetization ... Our position in the market has strengthened ... you need to look at the long-term value of companies." Seems a little odd for Niklas to be preaching it to eBay in this scenario, but perhaps he just wanted to clear his name now that Joost has gone public and is potentially looking of suitors. He wouldn't predict if Skype could've made its original goals if he had stuck around until 2009, but somehow we doubt it.
Niklas Zennstrom resigns as Skype's CEO
Niklas Zennström, who we had the pleasure of sitting down with nearly three years ago for an interview, is officially stepping down as CEO of Skype. Reportedly, he will now become the non-executive chairman of the Skype Board of Directors, and while searching for a "permanent successor," eBay's Chief Strategy Officer (Michael van Swaaij) will take the reigns as acting CEO. Additionally, "Henry Gomez, Skype's President, who remained a Senior Vice President at eBay during his two-year tenure at Skype, will return to eBay as Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs." Lastly, eBay also made known that it has paid out €375 million (around $530 million) "to settle all of its future obligations under the earn-out agreement signed with certain Skype shareholders when eBay acquired Skype in 2005."[Thanks, Randall B.]
