Skype Pro cuts certain conventional call costs

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 12 June 2007 11:30

Your IT - Home IT

The launch of the $A3.20 per month Skype Pro service allows Australian users to make fixed or mobile calls to a nominated overseas number at the Skype rate plus the cost of calling an in-country number.

Dubbed Skype To Go, this feature allows calls to any country that Skype serves, though only one overseas number can be associated with the local number provided by Skype to each subscriber.

This feature is especially valuable for mobile phone users who can use Skype To Go to call a family member, friend or colleague overseas for just a few cents per minute (depending on the destination and in some cases whether it is a fixed or mobile number) as long as they stay within the cap or bucket associated with their mobile plan.

Skype Pro also offers untimed calls to in-country landlines for a fixed fee of 5.9 cents, a considerable saving on the 10-12 cents charged by most VoIP providers, let alone the rates charged by conventional carriers.

The plan also includes free voicemail, a $A49 discount on SkypeIn numbers (which allow calls from the PSTN to be received on a Skype service, usually for $A80 per year), plus discounts on other Skype services such as call recording and ringtones.

"Millions of Skypers around the world already make cheap international calls from their computer. With Skype to Go, you don’t have to think twice about the cost of making an international call from your mobile phone.  If you have a friend living abroad, you can talk to them anytime you want," said Stefan Oberg, Skype's vice president and general manager telecoms.

Skype Pro features vary by country.