Skype, the internet long-distance provider, just announced
that it will offer unlimited calling to overseas landline phones in 34 countries for only $9.95 a month. Skype is now owned by Ebay.
The countries encompassed include most of Europe, plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia.
Calls to domestic land lines and cell phones are included as well, as are calls to cell phones in Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore, but not cell phones in other countries.
Skype has already been selling unlimited calls to the U.S. and Canada for $3 a month. It is expanding that offering with another plan, for $5.95 per month, that gives free calls to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, and a discount on calls to other places in Mexico.
Skype is generally used as a software application running on a computer equipped with a microphone and speakers or a headset. But subscribers will also have the option to call a local number from their phones and be connected to international numbers that fall under their plan, paying only local access charges or using their cell-phone airtime.
Unlimited international calling plans have been popping up in recent years from hardware-based phone services like Vonage International Holdings Corp. and cable companies, but the prices are generally higher, and the plans are add-ons to basic calling plans that cost even more.
We've never used Skype, but we know people who have used it to call from abroad when traveling at ridiculously cheap rates. And now that we're on the subject, we think that the price of telephone services is just ridiculous. The bizarre taxes and fees that are added on make the bill go on for several pages. If they don't stop taxing the telecom industries so much, people are going to bail out and go to Skype and other such services which are cheaper.
