Skype [aka Microsoft] buys GroupMe for US$85m

The acquisition comes at an interesting juncture for voice over IP, internet video and various messaging platforms.

Software and internet giants are becoming telecoms players in their own right, relegating traditional telecoms providers to just infrastructure providers or ‘dumb pipes’, during they garner the intelligence and the customer engagement.

The emergence of services like Viber

Examples of this change can be seen in the emergence of services like Viber, Facebook Messenger, Google’s Huddle app and Microsoft’s Linc unified communications app for businesses.

In recent months Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype and Skype’s subsequent deal to put video calling inside Facebook as then as a major iOS upgrade to its Skype WiFi product which provides low cost connectivity across 1m hotspots are indicative that a quiet revolution is happening in telecoms.

Microsoft and other ICT giants may end up being the user’s first port of call for sophisticated communications services beyond paying a flat fee for broadband access. Expect things to get very interesting when Windows Phone 7 comes out.