Skype to announce… something? at eComm09

Skype strategist Julien Decot is off the 2009 Emerging Communications Conference speaker list and Skype GM Jonathan Christensen has an announcement to make. Mr. Christensen's keynote is described as:

Codec Evolution and Industry Proposal (Plus Skype Announcement)

The PSTN has been bandwidth limited from its inception. This was done to keep equipment costs down. But is 3kHz really enough to get your point across? Wideband audio has emerged in services like Skype and with today's low cost, silicon based manufacturing and the move to all IP transmission there is an opportunity to finally break through the POTS bandwidth barrier. Jonathan will discuss the complex audio codec landscape and put forth a proposal for how we [the Industry] can make wideband audio ubiquitous.

Let's parse this and madly speculate where Jonathan's going.

The PSTN has been bandwidth limited from its inception. This was done to keep equipment costs down.

The public switched telephone network (PSTN) cuts off your speech's top (high notes) and bottom (low notes). While some microphones and speakers, like those used by musicians, capture everything, most equipment in mobile phones, landline phones, speakerphones, or even Skype phones captures just enough of your sound to be understood.

But is 3kHz really enough to get your point across? Wideband audio has emerged in services like Skype

Wideband audio restores the lifelike quality of sound by capturing and playing more of your sound's natural highs and lows. Skype's new SILK codec, which moves sound between Skype and your computer, and between Skype and other Skype users, is a wideband codec. Incredibly vivid sound.  

and with today's low cost, silicon based manufacturing

Putting software into a chip... SILK codecs as semiconductor "cores"? A core is a readily usable bit of software already rendered in the software language of chip programming. Everything electronic has some sort of chip in it, from radios to cars. Pre-built cores make it fast, cheap, and easy to drop new features into your product. "SILK Inside"?

and the move to all IP transmission

Most mobile and landline phone companies have switched their plumbing from analog to digital to Internet Protocol.

there is an opportunity to finally break through the POTS bandwidth barrier.

POTS (plain old telephone service) is basic phone service, the one with the 3kHz bandwidth limits. Could the breakthrough be offering SILK Inside in the routers PSTN services use? In mobile phones?

Jonathan will discuss the complex audio codec landscape

Ummm. I haven't a clue. But Jonathan should know; he's been working in the codec business for years. 

and put forth a proposal for how we [the Industry] can make wideband audio ubiquitous.

If you want something ubiquitous, you have to take away cost and risk. Sounds like open source to me.

So, again, this is me guessing what Skype will announce and all errors are mine:

1. Skype will release SILK with an open source license.
2. Skype will partner with an ASIC semiconductor manufacturer to release SILK in VHDL (or another chip design language).
3. Skype has partnerships with Cisco, Motorola, Nokia and other companies to use the chips in networking products and mobile handsets.

Let me make another assumption. Skype will announce a public platform in 2009. So people could make their own Skype clients or build Skype into their own products/services. To make that work, Skype needs to share codecs and encryption with developers. Licenses could be for packaged software or for open source libraries. I'm betting on open source for the codecs and shrinkwrapped for the encryption.

What's your wild guess?