Skype, the instant messaging, voice and video calling platform has become a part of Microsoft bringing innovative technology to everyone across the world. Skype offers amazing services to its users for sharing their experiences via text, video and voice calls. The Global Head of Skype, Gurdeep Pall Singh said, “We are big believers in Net Neutrality.” Indicating their support for Net Neutrality, Microsoft’s Skype said it continues to drive for affordable Internet access to all its consumers worldwide.

In an interview with PTI, Skype Corporate Vice President Gurdeep Singh Pall shared his views and their support for Net Neutrality. Also, he answered many questions regarding their top priorities and zero-rating plans. Recently, Skype had announced their partnership with the on-demand entertainment platform of Eros International, ErosNow and Indian studios, Yash Raj Films for bringing Bollywood-centric Moji’s and moving emoticons to its messaging service.

India is Our Top Priority – Skype

Gurdeep Pall Singh, the Vice President at Skype said, Surging data consumption in India has made the country top priority for Microsoft’s video calling and messaging service Skype. As there is heavy usage of smartphones in India, obviously, there will be huge consumption of data. Skype’s global head says that flooding of data consumption is the major reason for opting India as their top priority.

Singh also suggested the users regulate local and national calls made over the internet (VoIP). Skype offers users to make local and national calls, but that doesn’t make sense as it will be related to restricting the data usage of consumers for which they have paid.

A government panel has suggested regulating local and national VoIP calls. If accepted, this would result in consumers paying for VoIP calls, possibly making them as expensive as calls made on mobile. He was asked about his views about the call cost of VoIP calls made by the consumers.

Skype Charging More for Local and National VoIP Calls

Our global stated position remains with net neutrality. That is founded in the principle that unfettered, equal access to the internet is now not a nicety, it’s a must have. It’s a must-have for citizens if the nations are going to break through and compete at a global level. So, it is such an important principle that, we hope and we will continue to push for, countries that have sort of held out on that, follow it.

Singh was asked about their services that are being offered to its customers. Some things don’t actually make sense like Airtel recently announced that their data revenues have gone up and Skype has increased their charges. This is one of the snags from Skype as they should let the user do what they want to do, for what they’ve paid.

Does Skype support zero-rating plans?

Zero rating is a weird economic exception. He says it is a strategic move which may not work in the long term. In the long term, it really comes down to net neutrality. Equal affordable access is really the play. Zero rating poses some interesting challenges, whichever way you want to argue it. But, you have to optimize for the simple law of gravity which is considering that equal access is important for the long term, and not look for any other short term solutions.

Reason Behind Skype’s Arrival to India

Skype is planning to launch Mojis in India. India is the best place where people follow great Indian culture and traditions. That is the reason, the feature to get launched in India. Mojis are short clips from films or television, which have become sort of cultural memes. Singh says, “We believe that introducing these into conversations really enhances it, allows users to express themselves a lot better. We launched Mojis globally, two-three weeks ago, and this would be the first localized version of Moji.”

These are the questions asked to Gurdeep Pall Singh regarding their future plans and Bollywood-centric Mojis and India-inspired Emoticons launch in India. For this launch, Skype has announced their partnership with four on-demand entertainment platforms.