The Internet auction company eBay Inc. has struck a deal to purchase Internet telephone provider Skype Technologies SA of Luxembourg, in a transaction worth as much as $4.1 billion that could establish eBay as a major global telecommunications provider.

''Skype opens up new lines of business, new monetization models . . . and is also a great stand-alone communications business," said eBay chief executive Meg Whitman. But analysts questioned the value of making a large investment in the infant market for Internet telephone services.

Under the terms of the agreement, eBay will pay $2.6 billion in cash and stock now and could add another $1.5 billion in cash and stock if Skype's growth meets certain future goals.

''$2.6 billion is a shocking figure to me, for a small company with a suspect business model," said Maribel Lopez, a telecommunications analyst for Forrester Research in Cambridge.

Skype, with an estimated 54 million users worldwide, is free software that allows users to speak with each other over the Internet without charge. The software is mainly popular in Europe and Asia, where people use it for long-distance communications. Skype also offers a fee-based service that lets users place calls to standard telephones.

Whitman said eBay will use Skype to make it easier for buyers and sellers to communicate directly with each other, thus making eBay a more attractive place to do business. More transactions will mean higher revenue for eBay, which charges fees to people who sell merchandise on the site.

Currently, eBay buyers and sellers must rely on e-mail or instant messages to work out a deal. Now, eBay will let sellers offer their customers a Skype voice connection, too. Sellers will pay extra for a Skype link on their auction page, thus generating a new revenue stream for eBay. In addition, buyers will need the free Skype software to make the voice connection. That means increased usage for Skype, and the chance to attract more users to its fee-based services. More>>>

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posted by ADMIN @ Tuesday, September 13, 2005