Free mobile calls and text messages?

That's the idea behind a new partnership announced today between Skype and the mobile network 3. Announced in Milan and London this morning, the two firms have teamed up on a Skype Phone, a specially designed handset that allows users to bring free (when calling or texting Skype to Skype) Skype calls with them while they are on the go. The handset will be available at 3 shops in the coming days in nine countries including Britain, Ireland and Italy.

With 246 million users around the world, Skype has already become a major irritant to fixed-line telecoms operators, who have seen business and home users defect to cheap net-based telecoms services. In July, telecoms consultancy Mformation reported that 70 per cent of the businesses they surveyed in Britain, America and across Europe are making plans to institute some kind of internet-based service on their mobiles within the next two years. at the time, 27 per cent said they currently make cheap internet calls and SMS messages on their handsets.

Could mobile operators' relatively pricier calling rates be the next casualty of the net telephony revolution? Interestingly, 3 views this as a loyalty-building scheme that could be a sign of things to come, particularly as mobile pricing evolves from pay-by-the-minute to flat-rate plans.

Tech analysts at Ovum think 3 may have come up with a winner -- at least for the cost-conscience end of the market. "The package is attractive, and the cost of acquiring it is low," Ovum said in a statement. "The phone is cheap at £50 but, crucially, it doesn't look or feel cheap: it has a slim, elegant design, it's nicely finished and it has a pretty good spec for its price point, including a 2 megapixel camera. In combination with the promise of 'free phone calls', it's likely to get at least a second look from customers who haven't necessarily set their hearts on the latest from Nokia or Samsung".

But the analysts said that the handset would remain a niche product unless it expands the range of handsets available and supports Skype In/Out, the service that lets people make low-cost, web-based calls to non-Skype users.

I plan to try out the Skypephone in the next few weeks, courtesy of 3 Italia. Check back here for my review.