IP Democracy: Skype Unveils $30/Year North American Calling Plan

The big news for today, and I’m not sure why this is so important, is that Skype has unveiled a $29.95/year calling plan that allows for unlimited calling to regular landline and mobile phones anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.

Skype kicked off a promotion in May that allowed for the same unlimited “SkypeOut” North American calling at no charge until the end of 2006; the company announced back then that the “free” part of the deal would come to an end starting in 2007. So, this isn’t really news…except, perhaps, for the fact that it has really happened.

The $29.95/year charge is slightly noteworthy because it reflects the first viable attempt by Skype to start generating serious mass-market revenues since the VoIP pioneer was purchased by eBay in October 2005 for $2.5 billion, a figure scoffed at by some industry experts as exhorbitant. Now, at least, eBay is on the road to getting a reasonable payback from Skype.

The $29.95 fee is a good deal, particularly when compared to other VoIP providers, such as Vonage, which charge almost that much each month for service. Even better, customers who sign up before January 31 can latch onto an introductory rate of $14.95/year, a bargain-basement price for phone service that works on regular phones.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on December 13, 2006 10:07 AM to IP Democracy