Cisco makes a lot of money on high-margin equipment to deal with IP traffic. If an inter-operable VoIP solution becomes the future of communications (or just r

Cisco makes a lot of money on high-margin equipment to deal with IP traffic. If an inter-operable VoIP solution becomes the future of communications (or just raises the level of internet traffic in general) Cisco wins as people have to buy more network equipment (of which a bunch will probably be their equipment). Skype's current business model is non-interoperability. If people are locked into Skype for Skype to Skype calling, then they'll pay Skype Out rates to dial phones. However, there can be a limit to how pervasive you can get with a closed network model. Cisco might calculate out that increased hardware sales would do them better. Likewise, they might feel that the Skype brand has enough clout to stand on its own. I'm not saying that it's likely, just that there is a potential benefit. More internet traffic is probably a very desirable thing for Cisco.