What 'multitasking' means for Phone Operators...

In short... not good.

When smartphone companies like Apple announce they'll support multi-tasking as a 'new' feature, it sounds a bit like a TV company saying they'll support color. Hasn't multi-tasking been around for a while already? Yes, but Apple (and others) have essentially crippled it, so that all of the phone's resources were available to one app at a time. (Some privileged apps, usually Apple's, were allowed to run in the background.)

Until now, this 'running in the background' has kept a lot of voice competitors out of reach. After all, how useful is Skype - for receiving calls - if you're considered 'offline' whenever your phone is off, or you're doing something else, like listening to music. If Skype could run in the background, then the whole dynamic changes. In fact, that's just what Apple's recently announced.

Expect a huge influx of competing apps that will make use of this, and allow routing calls over VOIP, thereby bypassing the wireless networks in homes and offices. Also, assuming Verizon and AT&T can't block it, you can expect a lot more 'data' to flow over the carriers and - eventually - less 'voice'. You still need the 3G connection (at least, when you're away from WiFi) but you won't need nearly as many minutes. Presumably, AT&T knows this, and will bolster revenue from the 3G-side, as well as work their Interconnection magic to recoup some costs from voice termination. This will 'hide' the costs from the consumer, and spread it around a bit to the network players. But, in all things consumer, we are definitely headed towards a 'per Megabyte' pricing model rather than a 'per minute' one. And, regardless of costs, we're about to see a lot more players in the 'telco' business, if you broaden 'telco' to mean: An application that can originate or terminate a voice call to your mobile device.