Skype to offer unlimited overseas calls
Skype on Monday said it is now offering unlimited calls from the US to phones in a wide range of international locations.
For US$9.95 per month, callers will be able to ring folks abroad in 34 countries, including many in Europe, along with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. (The details of the new flat-rate subscriptions were first published in an Associated Press story Sunday evening.) There is one limit--in most of those countries, the calls must be to a landline.
Calls to cell phones abroad are allowed under the US$9.95 price only to Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The plan also allows unlimited domestic calls in the US, via Skype's Internet-based phone service, to both landline phones and mobile phones.
In December 2006, Skype began offering unlimited calls to cell phones and landlines in the US and Canada at US$29.95 per year.
Skype, a unit of e-commerce giant eBay, expects to hit US$500 million in revenue this year, and profits have been strong. Still, eBay is giving the service a hard look and may consider selling it, if the "synergies" don't work out favorably.
More details on the calling plans
The company's Monday morning announcement laid out three new subscription plans for consumers in the US and Canada, as follows:
Unlimited US and Canada: Unlimited calls to landline and cell phones in the US and Canada. (US$2.95 per month)
Unlimited Mexico: Unlimited calls to landline and cell phones in the US and Canada, and to landlines in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey; up to 80 percent off normal SkypeOut rates to landlines in the rest of Mexico and up to 40 percent off normal SkypeOut rates to all Mexico cell phones. (US$5.95 per month)
Unlimited World: Unlimited calls to landline and cell phones in 34 countries (see the cell-phone exception noted earlier in the story), including the US and Canada, as well as to Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey; up to 80 percent off normal SkypeOut rates to the rest of Mexico landlines and up to 40 percent off normal SkypeOut rates to all Mexico cell phones. (US$9.95 per month)
Skype notes that calls to premium, nongeographic, and other special numbers are excluded. The company continues to offer Skype-to-Skype calls free of charge.
(Originally posted in CNET News.com blog)
In Asia, the subscription plans are as follows:
Unlimited country: Unlimited calls to landlines in one of 34 countries (US$6.28 per month)
Asia 200: 200 minutes of calls to landlines and mobiles in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan per month (US$9.46 per month)
Unlimted World: Unlimited calls to landlines in 34 countries worldwide (US$14.23 per month)
According to Skype, unlimited calling features are subjected to Skype's fair usage policy which is set at 10,000 minutes per month, equivalent to more approximately 5 hours each day.
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