OnetSkype talks up its new service
Gadu-Gadu, Poland's most popular instant messaging system, now has to face a new, competitor.
Skype is already a well-known program enabling internet users to communicate both in writing and via VoIP. Now, it has joined forces with Poland's biggest portal, Onet.pl, to become a new instant communication giant.
The newest version of OnetSkype - Skype 1.3 - is already available to download at the Onet.pl portal. In order to use it you need access to the internet, headphones and a microphone, and you can talk to any person around the globe possessing the same set of equipment. "The joining of advanced VoIP technologies used by Skype and a high quality media platform - Onet.pl - together with its users database is of great importance to the Polish market. I'm sure OnetSkype will revolutionize communication of Polish users with each other and with the rest of the world," said Łukasz Wejchert, CEO of Onet.pl.
For Onet.pl this is already the second attempt at an instant messenger after the fiasco of OnetKomunikator. Apart from free services it also offers paid SkypeOut for outgoing calls, and SkypeIn for incoming calls in packages of EUR 1 (zł.4) for 24 minutes.
Gadu-Gadu CEO, Krzysztof Szalwa, is not too worried about the new competitor, though. "In its five-year-long history, Gadu-Gadu had to compete with other IM a couple of times, not just Polish ones but such foreign giants as ICQ, Yahoo or MSN. Each time it was Gadu-Gadu who won the battle. The best proof is that we are the strongest brand on the Polish market with a constantly growing number of users - five million at the moment".
Who is going to outtalk whom remains to be seen.
Skype is already a well-known program enabling internet users to communicate both in writing and via VoIP. Now, it has joined forces with Poland's biggest portal, Onet.pl, to become a new instant communication giant.
The newest version of OnetSkype - Skype 1.3 - is already available to download at the Onet.pl portal. In order to use it you need access to the internet, headphones and a microphone, and you can talk to any person around the globe possessing the same set of equipment. "The joining of advanced VoIP technologies used by Skype and a high quality media platform - Onet.pl - together with its users database is of great importance to the Polish market. I'm sure OnetSkype will revolutionize communication of Polish users with each other and with the rest of the world," said Łukasz Wejchert, CEO of Onet.pl.
For Onet.pl this is already the second attempt at an instant messenger after the fiasco of OnetKomunikator. Apart from free services it also offers paid SkypeOut for outgoing calls, and SkypeIn for incoming calls in packages of EUR 1 (zł.4) for 24 minutes.
Gadu-Gadu CEO, Krzysztof Szalwa, is not too worried about the new competitor, though. "In its five-year-long history, Gadu-Gadu had to compete with other IM a couple of times, not just Polish ones but such foreign giants as ICQ, Yahoo or MSN. Each time it was Gadu-Gadu who won the battle. The best proof is that we are the strongest brand on the Polish market with a constantly growing number of users - five million at the moment".
Who is going to outtalk whom remains to be seen.
