Internet phone service provider Skype plans to start charging U.S. and Canadian users $29.95 per year for unlimited calls to regular phones in both countries, as the end of a free trial offer looms.
Users who sign up before Jan. 31, 2007, will receive a special rate of $14.95 a year and 100 free minutes of international calling, Skype said in a statement on Wednesday. Any user wishing to continue using Skype to make calls to regular phones or mobile handsets after the free trial expires Dec. 31, but not interested in a yearly plan, can pay for SkypeOut at a rate of 2.1 cents per minute for calls within the United States and Canada.
Computer-to-computer calls using Skype software will remain free.
Skype lets users make voice and video calls to regular landlines, mobile phones or PCs over the Internet. The company’s popular software also can be used to share files, send instant messages and conduct conference calls.
The new plan comes just six months after Skype launched a free trial of its VoIP service in both countries. The company is part of a growing trend of users making voice calls over the Internet at rates far lower than traditional phone companies charge.
The plan also pits Skype against other Internet-calling carriers, such as Vonage, which offers a $24.99 monthly package in the United States that includes calls to several European countries, for example, the U.K., Spain and France, as well as extras such as voice mail, 911 emergency-dialing and a free phone adapter.
Skype, a Luxembourg company bought by eBay last year, serves more than 136 million registered users worldwide as of the end of September 2006. The company made a name for itself by offering free PC-to-PC calls over the Internet with the aid of its free software. New, Skype-enabled devices able to link to the Internet, such as mobile phones able to connect to wireless LAN networks, continue to become available.
