* Crunching the numbers on Skype’s PC-to-PSTN option
Last time, we discussed Skype’s introduction of PC-to-PSTN calling. This time we want to examine some of the details.
Even though the rate of 2.1 cents (1.7 Eurocents) works for calls to a lot of the world, there are, of course, exceptions. Calls to several countries – such as Greece, Poland, Finland, and Israel – are about three to four cents per minute. But these rates are generally for calls to landlines as opposed to mobile phones.
We found this distinction that Skype (and others) make to be confusing from the U.S. perspective, because here there is no difference in the price for calls to mobile or landline phones. That’s because in the U.S., the called party on a mobile phone pays for the mobile minutes. However, the calling party pays for incoming minutes to a cell phone in most countries.
In many cases, the difference in price is as much as tenfold. For instance, if you’re calling a landline phone in France, the 2.1 cents-per-minute rate applies. But if you call a mobile phone, the rate jumps to more than 22 cents per minute. So it’s really important to know which type of line you’re calling before you begin that half-hour conversation.
The introduction of “almost free” international calling also brings up an interesting network management challenge. We’ve noted in previous columns that some IT shops are nervous – to say the least – about peer-to-peer (P2P) applications. Consequently, this is a type of traffic that is often squelched by traffic management devices. But now that P2P has evolved to P2PSTN, the rationale behind blocking this “recreational” traffic is less clear.
Then there’s the whole call-accounting issue. Skype requires prepayment by credit card. This means most companies would have to ask users to expense these charges. The good news, though, is that Skype seems to provide pretty good call-by-call accounting so the electronic paper trail can be maintained.
Will most corporate shops move to this immediately? Probably not. But for those who are extremely cost-conscious, this presents yet another most interesting option.
