Remember '5 Faves' from T-Mobile? O2 is taking a note from that playbook with the launch of its 'International Favourites' program. The services uses the Jajah acquisition to allow O2 customers to make international calls to five numbers for £10. The price goes towards 3,000 landline minutes and 200 mobile minutes to calls to those five favorites. Read the article.

Looks like Skype is seeing some growing pains. A few weeks ago it was revealed that Skype is responsible 12 percent of international voice calls--so it's no wonder the company might be experiencing some issues rising to that scale.

VoIP Watch noted from one of his contacts that Skype had become unavailable once again on Sunday. According to the Skype site, some users were having trouble "opening Payment In Client window, making a call to Online number, making a purchase or using any other service." Users may have also seen an error message like "Internal error" on the web or "Check your connection" in their Skype Client. The company is currently investigating the issue. It does not seem like the problems were widespread.

Just last week, Skype users experienced issues logging in to Skype. Those who had logged in before the outage had no problem using the service, but those who tried to log in during the outage could not. 

For more:
- here's the VoIP Watch page
- here's the Skype page

Relate articles
Post IT EXPO: Continuing the mobile VoIP debate
IT EXPO: Faster networks and beyond 'Best Effort'
Skype - To adapt, VoIP must go Mobile, offer rich experience
Skype CEO makes the case for video communication
Telegeography: 12% of international calling is on Skype

According to a recent independent study conducted by Telegeography, about 12 percent of international calls are made on Skype! While international calling growth has slowed, Skype calling growth increased. The report states that Skype's international calling traffic was 54 billion minutes in 2009 having grown 63 percent since 2008.

The Telegeography report revealed that annual international telephone calling only grew by about 8 percent. "The volume of traffic routed via Skype is tremendous," said TeleGeography analyst Stephan Beckert in the release. "Skype is now the largest provider of cross border communications in the world, by far." With even more options and Skype competitors on the horizon, one can only imagine what these numbers will look like this time next year.

For more:
- read the release

Related articles
Skype for SIP now open Beta
Jailbreak Skype over AT&T 3G
Fear the Skype

On Thursday, Nimbuzz released a significant upgrade to its iPhone application including integration into SkypeOut and 10 SIP networks for cheap international phone calls over WiFi, plus an app to enable calls on an iPod Touch.

New features include the introduction of a dial pad and the ability to make VoIP calls to landlines and mobiles via Skype-Out. Nimbuzz provides the available Skype credit left on the dial pad when using Skype Out for phone calls to landlines and mobile phones.  New VoIP call options are available through the company's global affiliate SIP partners, including Gizmo5, Vyke, and SIPgate.  The networks are integrated into the interface to use Nimbuzz for cheap international calls to landlines and mobile phones over WiFi. A two week online banner campaign to promote iPhone SIP calling functionality will be conducted on partner sites Gizmo5, Vyke, and SIPgate.

In its press release, Nimbuzz also took the time to brag about adding one new user in less than 4 seconds, translating to over 20,000 new users a day; however, the company would not disclose the total number of users it has  According to an October 2008 user survey, 95 percent of Numbuzzers would recommend the service to a friend. There are also signed manufacturer partnership agreements with RIM, Spice Mobiles, and Toshiba.

For more:
- Nimbuzz's buzz. Blog.

Related articles
Nimbuzz, mig33 work to differentiate out of mobile VoIP pack ...
Nimbuzz to come preloaded on Toshiba TG01 smartphone - FierceVoIP
Nimbuzz gets a client distro deal on India handsets - FierceVoIP

In about a month, Dan O'Shea and I will be out at CES (more formally, 2009 International CES) wearing out our shoes and going hoarse as we cram in keynote speeches, expert panels, breaking news and in-depth briefings.

I'd like to tell you why we'll be there and a general idea of whom we'll be meeting with between January 6 and January 9 in Las Vegas.  I'm writing this now in the (no doubt vain) hope you'll try to get editorial meetings up with us sooner (i.e. before January 1) rather than later.

CES is best typically associated with very cool gizmos you'll find down at the local Best Buy, such as the latest 50 inch plasma TVs and hot laptops. But the show has grown into much more and includes vendors across a broad range of consumer offerings, including phone services, IPTV, and content providers; content is the "new" story CES is telling this year, with Disney-ABC, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television scheduled to be in attendance.

At CES, there is something for all of the Fierce Telecom and Digital Media publications:

FierceIPTV:   Editor Dan O'Shea will be looking at a range of vendors offering IPTV solutions at CES, including end-user service offerings, head-end gear, set top boxes, middleware, and software. 

FierceVoIP: Doug Mohney will be making the rounds, looking at both services (hello 8x8, Skype) and hardware.  You might be surprised at the amount of carrier CPE gear turns up at CES. I'll also be looking forward to talk to the Casabi folks, which flows into...

FierceTelecom: We expect both AT&T and Verizon to have new announcements relating to broadband and TV services. Triple and quad play offerings may also be on the table.  Dan O'Shea and Doug Mohney will be coordinating coverage.  

FierceOnlineVideo:  Doug Mohney expects to deep dive into the proliferation and future of "independent" streaming video delivery devices ranging from Grandpa TiVo to Roku's streaming box used by Netflix. Content providers, PC desktop video delivery, and statistical tracking are also on the radar.

To schedule a briefing appointment at CES-

             Dan O'Shea        doshea@fiercemarkets.com            January 8-9, 2008

             Doug Mohney      doug@fiercemarkets.com               January 7-9, 2008

Doug Mohney expects be available for meetings at Digital Experience, ShowStoppers, and Lunch@Piero's (if he doesn't break down screaming or fall over from exhaustion). Depending on flight arrival time, he may also attend the latter half of CES: Unveiled on Tuesday, January 6, 2008.

Companies seeking to brief Dan and Doug at CES are STRONGLY encouraged to email as soon as possible and preferably before December 24, 2008.