Yahoo Is..Isn’t…May Be Rolling Out VoIP   8/17/2005 - 1,030 views, 1 Comment

The most recent rumours started when Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy said that in his estimation Yahoo was set to roll out a VoIP service within the next two weeks. Said Rashtchy, “VoIP is fast becoming the new killer app of the Internet and this move should push Yahoo ahead of its competitors.”

And of course the rumours are also underpinned by Yahoo’s recent acquisition of VoIP start-up Dialpad Communications.

And finally, Yahoo spokesperson Terrell Karlsten indicated to Computer Business Review, in a report published today, that Yahoo was indeed planning on becoming a full-service VoIP provider, although she wouldn’t commit to a schedule, saying only that it would happen in “coming months”.

Which makes it all the stranger that in another news report, also published today, at InternetNews.com, Karlsten not only denied that there would be any VoIP service roll-out within the next two weeks, but flatly stated “the rumor from the financial analyst is not true,” adding that “we will continue to prioritize the enhancement and extension of our voice services as a core component of Yahoo Messenger.”
The Yahoo Messenger intergration to which Karlsten refers is their recent roll-out Yahoo Messenger with Voice, which allows users to talk to each other via audio as well as text messaging, and which offers other VoIP like features such as voicemail.

So which is it? Is Yahoo playing coy by calling what is going to be a major VoIP offering “just part of our Yahoo Messenger”? Or are they really not planning on moving into the primary VoIP space?

Only time will tell whether Rashtchy’s crystal ball was correct, or, indeed, Yahoo’s was flawed.