On March 9, 2007, the company announced that it was considering making a proposal to take the company private and then on April 25, the company said that a proposal to do so was approved at its extraordinary general meeting held on April 25, 2007.
Operating profit was $2.74 million, down 74.8% from the same period last year and a decrease of 10.9% from the previous quarter. The firm’s cash balance and short-term bank deposits was about US$144.1 million at the end of the quarter.
So what happened? The non-start of Skype, seen being demonstrated on the Tom network in our illustration, on which Tom was placing much of its hopes. In March it was reported that the government had suspended the issuance of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) permits until 2008.
Tom has been collaborating with Skype for a VoIP venture and the illustration was part of the publicity that was released when the original announcement was made.
The move is widely seen as the Chinese government’s response and remedy to the growing threat that landline operators are facing from VoIP.
Skype is the leading VoIP company in the world. It offers very cheap or even free calls to consumers who have a Internet access. Skype does not charge customers on computer-to-computer calls. Computer-to-telephone calls are charged, but the rates are considerably lower than that imposed by fixed-line operators.
The two-year ban on VoIP businesses is seen as a big setback for Skype’s plan to tap the biggest market in Asia. The company has been conducting negotiations with various telecom providers since last year in order to set up its VoIP service in the mainland.
Source: China Tech News