mBlox to power Skype SMS

mBlox today announced it has won a contract with Skype to handle the traffic, billing and settlement for Skype’s new SMS service.

mBlox has always focused on the bulk SMS delivery and premium SMS services, not peer-to-peer messaging, but it has built and extensive SMS delivery platform connecting hundreds of carriers. While the service will look like a peer-to-peer service, mBlox won’t be connecting handsets to other handsets, but rather distributing batches of thousands of messages similar to the bulk SMS services it provides for its traditional content customers, said Andrew Budd, CEO of mBlox.

The only difference is, Budd said, the way the money flows. “Skype is paying us, and we pay the carriers,” Budd said.

While Skype made its name as a purveyor of free Internet calling, it has been gradually adding more advanced and robust services that it charges for. SMS is it’s latest iteration, targeting the ballooning use of text messaging around the world. While SMS is growing quickly in popularity in the U.S., Skype’s service won’t initially be available in this market. Part of the issue, is with the way SMS is billed in the U.S. charging the recipient rather than the sender to use the carrier’s network. Also while carriers in other regions have embraced Skype for the traffic it drives over their networks, U.S. carriers have been more reluctant. mBlox, however, will protect its carrier relationships, and not ship messages to U.S. inboxes, Budd said.

“If and when Skype is welcomed by U.S. carriers, then we will carry that traffic,” Budd said.