Wall Street Legend

Skype Network Communications Company has indeed encountered a lot of trouble recently.

In this 2G era, mobile phone calling services are still very important to those communication operators, and the market size is not small. Now the Skype program, which also implements paid functions, is low-priced and attracts more and more paying users. This is a big advantage for them. It seemed like he was just combing his hair, it was strange to be happy.

After all, Ye Dongqing has basically made no investment. He can make a lot of money just by borrowing the network platform they have worked so hard to build. This makes people prefer to make long-term calls through computers instead of mobile phones in order to save phone bills.

It was better in the middle of last year, but it has affected the call business of these communication operators since the second half of the year. Since the beginning of this year, with the launch of advertisements many times, more people have been attracted to become registered users of Skype, which has directly affected the business of these companies. The influence, including Time Warner Group, Verizon Telecom, AT\u0026amp;T, Comcast Group, etc., are all standing opposite Ye Dongqing. It cannot be said that they are suppressing them with all their strength. These giants also know the influence, but they come from Suppression on many fronts is indeed continuing.

Last month, Mexico's Telecom Americas officially issued a notice banning Skype from transmitting data on its network. Deutsche Telekom is launching an investigation into Skype and is also waiting to see the attitude of other EU counterparts, such as France Telecom and the British Telecom. There are also telecommunications companies that make some small moves from time to time.

The main reason for all this is that Skype has developed too fast and has touched their cake. Therefore, they hope to follow the example of Mexico's American Telecom Company and eliminate potential risks before the situation gets worse. Otherwise, as the number of Internet users increases, The more they do, the more they feel that they may lose most of the call business market, so they are trying to characterize Skype as a "telecommunications company" and then put ropes on it to restrict it.

Recently, there has been bad news from Washington. Skype conversations are encrypted and cannot be intercepted, which makes Skype a perfect tool for criminals. Recently, the judicial department has characterized Skype as a tool for criminals through several cases. , so that Ye Dongqing had to try to combat this behavior.

It’s really unfair to say it. Without Skype, wouldn’t those criminals use prepaid cards to discuss things? It can only be said that there are too many competitors and they have been specifically targeted. The company's legal department is trying to solve this matter. However, Ye Dongqing feels that it is indeed necessary to find a way to resolve the current problems, but it seems that there is no better solution. The solution is to not really sell the company at a low price, or to follow the ideas of those people and significantly increase the cost of Skype calls by two to three times. That is completely digging your own grave. It is better to sell it. Cash out.

In the previous life, Skype did not expand so fast, but this time it was in the limelight. Ye Dongqing heard that Verizon Telecommunications Company in the United States was also trying to develop a similar product recently. He sincerely hoped that the other party would develop it, and it would be a relatively good one. , and then become a competitor of Skype. At least this way, it will not be targeted by Verizon Telecom. This is another giant with a market value of hundreds of billions of dollars. Its influence cannot be underestimated and it exerts a lot of pressure on Skype...

"Its services have impacted traditional terrestrial fixed-line telephone services and mobile phone services. When traditional telecommunications companies operate these two services, they need to pay high marketing costs and basic capacity construction costs. When users use these services, they generally pay according to the distance and pay-per-minute, so the traditional model is to charge as much as possible from everyone, which is completely opposite to Skype's business model.

We spent zero money on acquiring new users and maintaining web traffic; the only money we spent was on business development and software development. This is a very good business model for us, and it may be very bad for them, but times are changing. If there were no Skype, there would be other similar products. It cannot be said that Skype has impacted the traditional call business, it is just that It can be said that times have changed, and more Skypes will emerge in the future. For example, my company is developing new products based on this technology, which can realize video calls, just like talking face to face across the computer screen and the Internet. It has already If it succeeds in the laboratory, it will probably be put into the market for testing next quarter. "

Ye Dongqing was wearing a suit solemnly and was being interviewed by the New York Times Magazine. He took the initiative to extend an olive branch to the New York Times and wanted to make some excuses for the recent lawsuit investigation against Skype.

It is not yet known whether it will be effective, but he knows that the majority of users must be on his side. Otherwise, if Skype is blocked in the United States, where would these people find such a cheap and safe calling program? The giants are resisting, and they are not shy about mentioning Skype's robberies at this moment, because that is a well-known fact, and some media are trying to portray Skype as a thief.

For example, a newspaper called "The Baltimore Sun" wrote in an article published the day before yesterday: "Skype's operating costs are very low. The entire communication foundation is composed of the network itself and the user's computer, so no additional expenses are required to continue the call. Marketing is also very cheap, because users will spontaneously invite others to join. Through Facebook, Skype does not have a desktop support system. Instead, it refers to the system of thousands of users and standard Internet services to make money through auxiliary services. Borrowing telecom operations It is a very shameful thing for businesses to spend a lot of money to build a network to make money.”

Now Ye Dongqing has responded. He is trying to make people understand that Skype is also an Internet company. It is no different from other Internet companies that provide certain services to users. It is also a part of social development, but it involves the interests of certain people. That's why it was targeted in this way.

He is considered a serious New Yorker and has met privately with the major shareholders of the New York Times. The reporter sitting in front of Ye Dongqing at this moment did not show much aggression and continued to ask with the recorder: "So what do you want to say about condoning crime?"

"Just a few years ago, I was living at the bottom of society and saw a lot of crime. It was a very bad thing, but their crimes had nothing to do with Skype. If a person wanted to commit a crime, he could talk face to face. , you can write letters, and you can also make phone calls. You cannot impose such unreasonable statements on Skype. It is just a tool that facilitates people's lives.

Why do we have to refer to it specifically? If we must pursue the case, telecom companies have more extensive call services. I can give many examples of criminals calling to discuss things. There is nothing wrong with the tool itself. Whether it is good or bad depends on the individual..."