Skype is going to an unlimited subscription for SkypeOut.
Skype expands calling optionsNEW YORK - Skype, which helped make free PC-to-PC calling a global phenomenon, will announce Wednesday a $29.95-a-year service offering unlimited calls to wireless and traditional landline phones.
Skype's Unlimited Calling subscription moves the company toward the mainstream of phone services and poses a significant challenge on price to many VoIP services - short for Voice over Internet Protocol - that can cost $300 to $400 per year.
Previously, Skype users had to prepay for Skype credits to make such calls.
"Consumers like to pay on a subscription basis," says Don Albert, Skype's general manager for North America. "Now, our consumers have the option to do either one."
The good news, he says: "Either way you go, it's cheap."...
To get consumers to sign up early for its first-ever subscription plan, Skype is offering several sweeteners: People who sign up by Jan. 31 will get a 50% discount on the annual fee, to $14.95. They'll also get about 100 minutes of free international calls and $50 in coupons for Skype gear, such as a Motorola headset.
In January, Albert says, Skype will introduce a dual-mode phone that allows consumers to make calls from home directly over their broadband connection without having to first boot up their PCs.
I'll be signing up 2 or 3 people.
