Jan

18

Skype Raises Prices: Phonecards are Back in Business

January 18, 2007 |

Skype today announced a rather useless new pricing scheme, now with a connection fee of 4 cents per call, and is trying to sell it as an improvement.

Skype, the global Internet communications company, today announced its new global pricing structure which offers a simple, convenient and cost-effective way for consumers worldwide to call landlines and mobiles over the Internet. The new pricing structure complements the foundation of Skype’s success in letting anyone in the world talk for free, from one Skype software account to another.

The reality, though, is that Skype’s prices are rising, as BusinessWeek’s Olga Kharif points out:

I’ve written about the creep up of VoIP calling rates before. But here’s another piece of evidence that this is happening: On Jan. 18, Skype unveiled a slew of new calling plans. Called Skype Pro, these plans, which have just debuted in Europe and will be rolled out worldwide this year, allow users to make unlimited calls to domestic phones for a fixed monthly charge. People who sign up won’t have to pay per-minute fees for SkypeOut, and will also enjoy lower international calling fees (yup, Skype Pro users will still have to pay international calling rates, in addition to purchasing the plan).

So basically, Skype is about to get expensive enough for the good old calling card companies to start ripping consumers off again. I abandoned calling with Skype after it dropped its free calling promotion on the 1st January and have since moved all my international calls to my Vonage phone as well, because they are actually cheaper (I have to pay my monthly fee, of course, but that gives me free local and long distance calling as well).

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