WebProNews

The purchase of Skype by eBay has allowed it to keep its autonomy, but hasn't reduced the threat of the big Internet players to Skype's VoIP business.

Teleo. Dialpad. TotalTalk. Those are the VoIP services owned by Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL. All of them could make Skype very uncomfortable if they can get some of their millions of users onto those services.

"I think the biggest threat to us is companies like Microsoft, Yahoo and Time Warner's AOL, because their customer base is so big," Skype's Chief Executive and co-founder Niklas Zennstroem told an Athens conference on Sunday.

Microsoft and Yahoo have made voice chat part of their instant messenger programs, and recently announced they would provide interoperability between their proprietary IM services. AOL has launched TotalTalk as a full-fledged VoIP service. AOL's beta AIM Triton client preview also includes the TotalTalk software.

Millions of IM users may not be the biggest problem for Skype. Microsoft's Teleo purchase looms like the proverbial iceberg in the night.

Should Microsoft heavily integrate Teleo's VoIP into Office and Internet Explorer, and there's no reason to think it can't, millions of corporate desktops and home PCs will have Internet phone calling without downloading additional software.

If Microsoft were to make calls to landline and mobile phones free via its product, Skype could be the next Netscape. Impossible? Zennstroem said this in Athens: "In a few years' time the idea of paying for phone calls will seem very strange."

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.