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Skype's Free Phone Call Plan Will Soon Have Annual Fee
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Wed Dec 13, 2006 05:29 PM
from the all-good-things-must-end dept.
from the all-good-things-must-end dept.
The New York Times is reporting that Skype has said it would begin charging $30 a year for unlimited calls to landline and mobile phones within the United States and Canada. From the article: "As a promotion, Skype began allowing its users to place free domestic 'SkypeOut' calls from their computers to traditional and mobile phones last May. At the time, the company said the promotion would extend only through year's end. The company is offering a half-price subscription to those who sign up before Jan. 31. Calls from one computer to another have been and will continue to be free."
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Classic Marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Gak! (Score:5, Insightful)
It was never intended to be a free service [slashdot.org], just a splashy promotion. I don't think VOIP to POTS is going to be free (they do have to have call centers somewhere to connect those calls, right).
Anyway, no free rides.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Now will be a regulated phone company (Score:5, Insightful)
Now they will have to include backdoors for phone line tapping under US laws if they operate inside the USA. Sure they may be based outside the US and have global customers. Think that makes a whoot of difference to the Justice department? Might as well say the same for cocaine dealers: they may operate in the US but their corporate headquarters is in Medelin Columbia.
Any how, welcome to the Machine, skype.
Parent
Re:Now will be a regulated phone company (Score:4, Insightful)
Umm, did you know that Skype was always charging for incoming calls from the phone system? They were always regulated.
Thus by giving it away for free they built up a lot of anti-establishement street cred.
Maybe, but I think it had a lot to do with raising the profile of voip as a viable alternative to landline & cell phones, and causing a lot of damage to their biggest competitor, Vonage.
Now they will have to include backdoors for phone line tapping under US laws if they operate inside the USA. Sure they may be based outside the US and have global customers. Think that makes a whoot of difference to the Justice department?
The US gov't doesn't care where your head office is, you're doing business in the US, you fall under US law, the same as any other country.
Might as well say the same for cocaine dealers: they may operate in the US but their corporate headquarters is in Medelin Columbia.
WTF? Possession, importation & sale of ocaine is illegal in just about every country in the world. That has no relevance to telecom.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
If they opperate out of the US then the US won't have jurisdiction over them, so even if they do find them liable for violating fcc rules or soemthing along those lines, they can just thumb their noses at it.
Radio station near me does that. FCC wouldn't grant them enough boradcasting power to cover the area they wanted to cover, so they said screw it relocate across the river to windsor and broadcast at it anyway. Damned good station too.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Damned good station too.
If you're talking about CIMX (A.K.A. 89X), um no. Kudos to them for sticking it to the FCC, but the content is just more Clear Channel garbage crapping up the airwaves. Also, they're taking advantage of broadcasting out of a part of the spectrum that's normally reserved for non-profit and public stations in the US. Their obligation to the Canadian government? A couple hours of Canadian talk radio on weekend mornings long before anyone's out of bed. Once 6:50AM hits, 100% of their con
Re:Now will be a regulated phone company (Score:4, Insightful)
One way or another they will end up complying with CALEA, that is, if they aren't already [arstechnica.com].
After all, why should Skype stand up for your privacy when you won't?
Parent
Re:Now will be a regulated phone company (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course it is right that they have jurisdiction over Skype within the US. After all, how do you think US citizens are protected from foreign corporations' illegal activities within the nation?
Don't be fooled for one minute, either, that this is just some American abomination. Other countries have these kinds of laws, too. I don't know the relevant laws in other countries, but personal jurisdiction like this definitely exists in the UK, Australia and Canada, because personal jurisdiction is at a minimum a common law concept.
Of course, I do not like VoIP being meddled with by government, either. Just please don't try to make the Justice Department a bad guy here.
Parent
Erm...I guess (Score:3, Interesting)
I used the service prior to their promotion. It was cheap and worked as advertised (you might remember, since they had/have a Linux client they made
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah. Get an unlimited data plan on a smartphone, ditch the voice, and pay $68.00/year for the SkypeIn and SkypeOut service. Unlimited data *and* voice. Coverage area is smaller, but I could deal with that. Verizon might be pretty pissed, though, since I'd need a data connection active all the time so I could receive calls. Oh well...
Skype: Please make a Palm port of your software for the Treo! I don't want to be limited to a Windows Mobile device.
Patent search, anyone? (Score:2)
But potentially more significant innovations are planned for next year, when Skype will introduce services with Yahoo and Google that will allow Web surfers to click a button and call a business they have found during a search.
Mr. Albert said the concept, known as "click to call," was an important example of combining eBay's expertise in online sales with Skype's capacity to allow people to make inexpensive calls.
Industry analysts have mixed opinions about how successful such a program can be and wheth
Re:Patent search, anyone? (Score:5, Funny)
Wow. It takes a real goddamn genius to come up with an idea like that. They're lucky they have eBay's expertise to draw on, because I just can't imagine a mere mortal coming up with an idea like that.
Parent
A few more where that came from... (Score:2, Funny)
Click-to-change-channels
Click-to-order-sofas
Click-to-hangup
Click-to-start-microwave
patents pending of course
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
What I'd rather see is something like "Click to get a call back" after putting all the appropriate data into a web form (i.e. English language, existing customer, reason for call e.g. service change etc). Basically i
Re: (Score:2)
Then, not to be rude, but you should learn something about patents. That might help you conceive this. Seriously, there's no way that the click-to-talk system is covered under hyperlink patents or the like. There just isn't any way.
OTOH, the USPO is gaining a reputation for granting duplicate patents, patents for which there is a considerable amount of prior art, and j
At 8 Cents A Day... (Score:3, Insightful)
Why Skype ? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, but I think you're way off the mark on that one. People started to prefer web forums for any number of reasons - you're not comparing like for like. The fact that usenet was better is your subjective opinion (and you're probably someone who had already been using it for years when the web first came on the scene) and has no reflection on what th
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
But also, it's an ease-of-use aspect, too.
Its most popular aspect (or at least, what made it the most generally popular over the course of this year) is the no-BS landline (and cellphone, which will be grouped with 'landline' for this post) calling.
There was this other service hyped either here or Engadget (or both?) that was supposed to be some Skype-killer, but it wasn't as free as they said it was
Re:Why Skype ? (Score:4, Informative)
There was this other service hyped either here or Engadget (or both?) that was supposed to be some Skype-killer, but it wasn't as free as they said it was (I don't think it was money, but you had to do *something* to get the free calling).
Maybe you're thinking of Gizmo [gizmoproject.com]? It advertises itself as free, but it's only free between Gizmo users. So, you can call a landline for free if another Gizmo user has that number listed as his landline in his profile, or something to that effect. And they also say that if you use to too much, they'll start charging you for it, but they never say what "too much" use would be.
I tried it out a while back, when it was being hyped. It was fine, but wasn't terribly useful for me (personally) for the same reason other VOIP stuff isn't that helpful for me: I have a cell phone, and I'm pretty much never in a situation when I have internet access but no cell-phone reception. If I wanted useful wireless internet access, I'd have to go through a cell phone company anyway.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Why Skype ? (Score:5, Insightful)
2. No NAT issues (SIP is retarded with NAT - check out how SDP works).
3. Encryption is built-in and automatic.
4. Same client, multiple platforms thanks to Qt.
5. Voice quality is related to codec, not call setup protocol, which is what SIP is, so your voice quality comment is senseless.
6. Seamless integration with landlines.
7. Lots of features (video, chat, etc., all encrypted).
8. SIP is not consistent across vendors, with many proprietary extensions.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
They use different clients on different platforms. The Windows version is written in Delphi.
Linux and Mac version are way behind on version numbers.
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Re:Why Skype ? (Score:5, Insightful)
What's SDP?c ol [wikipedia.org] orP rotocol [wikipedia.org] or
Isn't it better to have many many more clients across every platform than to be stuck with only 1 on every platform? Plus have many more hardware choices as well (if you want to connect your home phone to VoIP)? How is SIP's voice quality not related to the chosen codec? And why would a setup protocol dictate voice quality in SIP? I honestly don't understand. Kind of like saying that since I'm driving on the right side of the road my car is faster, when it's engine (codec) that really matters most. How is SIP's integration not "seamless"? Open up your client, dial a phone number and voila, their landline rings. I would say it's better than Skype's actually. You can actually get a real phone number in Japan (for example) that will ring your SIP phone/PC in the US. Skype has this for around 15 countries, but SIP has DID (real landline numbers) numbers for many more countries (if not all). Plus SIP vendors have number portability as well. Most vendors that use SIP can communicate with each other. Some vendors block outside SIP calls (e.g. Vonage) while others use their own proprietary SIP (e.g. Comcast Digital Voice), but they block outside connections too. So it doesn't really matter if they're proprietary or not, a SIP client can't access their network anyway unless they go the landline route.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sockets_Direct_Proto
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Description_
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_discovery [wikipedia.org]
I've got nothing against Skype (I've used it tons), I just like SIP better because of its better call rates (you can always get a vendor cheaper than Skype), number of choices available (SIP hardware, software, vendors), plus the fact that if you want, you can get down to the nitty gritty and do some amazing stuff with it (want to get sms notifications of voicemail? access 10 different vendors with different rates with just a press of a button on your phone? setup smart call forwarding, if you're not at office, try home, then cell? Check voicemail on the web/email?).
Plus Skype is P2P, which is good for some things, but can use a lot of bandwidth when not in use, that's why some college campuses and businesses don't allow Skype.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I'll put it this way, then: With Skype, you are stuck using their codec, which pretty much always produces horrible results on calls to anywhere but the richest and most developed countries - particularly to cell phones. With SIP, at least you have the option to shop around and find someone who is capable of landing calls at your destination with dece
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The real way to solve NAT issues is through centralization or upnp. If your computer pokes a hole through the firewall for skype theres a chance your computer will now be skypes 'super-node.' Phone calls for other people will be routed through you, using up your bandwidth. Instead of skype centralizing the process and routing them through some central authority or implementing unpnp, they are simply using users as phone p2p. Which is
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I have no landline at home (been that way for more than 3 years now) and was using my cell phone with international calling cards to make phone calls oversea. But the connection generally was terrible in sound quality and there were intermittent signaling problems, too. On top of that, my mom has some hearing problem so that the sound quality was very important to us.
Now with skype, it's fairly easy for me to boost the signal from my laptop while making a phone call.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Also, the skype client is supposed to throttle the amount of bandwidth it uses, but whether it actually does this or not is another matter.
Skype.com disagrees.... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Skype.com disagrees.... (Score:4, Informative)
Unlimited Calling gives you a full year of unlimited calls to anyone, on any phone, within the US and Canada for just $14.95.
($29.95 after January 31st 2007)
It's also mentionned in the summary.
Parent
Google Rejected such Classic Marketing (Score:3, Insightful)
$14.95 till Feb, 2007 (Score:2)
Ekiga better than Skype (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Can't call landlines, or have landlines call you. Personally, I use Skype to call landlines more than I call other Skype clients.
For the professional user, Ekiga is a non-starter.
Re:Ekiga better than Skype (Score:4, Insightful)
SIP is not workable in a modern NAT environment. I hate to break it to you, but the average user doesn't want to deal with the well-documented firewall woes it brings. As for why it's like this, read up on SDP. SIP was designed to work in a utopian ipv6 world. I've written a lot of voip code, contributed to the Asterisk product, and worked with SIP a lot. It just sucks. I'm sorry.
Note that Asterisk implemented IAX2 specifically because of SIP's crappiness. There is a Skype competitor that uses it; they are based in New Zealand, I think - I actually had an account with them, but I forget their name. Unfortunately, Skype was there first.
And Skype just works. No SIP softphone that I've ever seen just sets up and works like it.
"Not true. You can get an account with a SIP provider (diamondcard, sipdiscount, callwithus, etc.) and connect with landlines that way."
Okay, thanks for the correction. I've used GnomeMeeting extensively in the past, from before it was SIP-based, until they became Ekiga. I guess this is new. It's still not at all obvious on their web page. Can you point out where they detail this procedure, so my mom (for example) could set it up as easily and as quickly as she did SkypeOut?
Also, does it have the equivalent of SkypeIn? That is, can landline users call my softphone?
"Two questions: (1) What kind of "professional" are you talking about; and (2) what does Skype give them that ekiga does not? (Aside from your points above, which I have debunked.)"
1. The business professional who wants to download and install a working product with minimal fuss which has good support. Skype fits the bill. You can call landlines very simply by signing up with SkypeOut, people can call you with SkypeIn, you save hugely on phone bills, etc. I am a contract programmer, and I use Skype every single day to talk to clients in other countries. I have saved a small fortune in phone bills.
2. Corporate support, easy setup, default encryption (there is no SIP standard for this - SIP calls are not private), no SIP stupidity with NAT...etc. Skype fills its niche very well.
Anyway, I think that's enough - you get the idea, and other than a possible SkypeOut correction, you have not debunked my post at all. This is why Skype is a massive success with home users and small business, and Ekiga is used by a few hobbyists.
Parent
Betamax are offering free calls to ~30 countries (Score:4, Interesting)
There are some quirks with Betamax though:
- They operate VoIP services under a dozen or so brand names and each brand has different rates. For an up-to-date comparison, see: http://backsla.sh/betamax [backsla.sh]
- They keep changing rates and the list of free countries, but the core countries tend to remain the same.
- To get free VoIP calls, you must top up 10 euros (+GST) every three or four months (depending on which of their brands you are using). Free calls are free calls - those 10 euros you can use for calling other, non-free, destinations. Also, credit does not expire so you can keep topping up until you finally have a use for all that credit (or the company folds
;).
- There is a limit on the amount of free calls - 300 minutes in a floating 7 day window, though they do not seem to be very exact about this. Sometimes, they screw up and charge for a supposedly free call (at a still impressive 1 cent a minute). But far more often than that, I end up calling for way over 300 minutes per week and still get charged nothing.
- They also offer a call-back service where you type in your phone number and the one you want to call. Both phones then ring and a connection is established between them. If both phones would have normally been free to call, this type of call is free as well. There is only a 5 cent or so set-up charge. A minor annoyance is that this gets charged even if the line on the other side is busy or nobody picks up.
- Finally, all calls get disconnected after one hour. My guess would be this is because with each free call you make, they are actually losing some money and they do not want to keep paying when people forget to properly hang up their phones...
All in all, I am topping up 10 euros (+GST) every few months, am calling family all over the world for free and get much better rates for mobiles and exotic destinations than I have ever seen from any other provider. I wouldn't know why I would ever consider SkypeIn + SkypeOut.This service is actually really handy at work, where SIP may not work due to firewall restrictions. You can still call out by having your office phone be called back.
Horrible quality on the "free" calls (Score:3, Interesting)
I've used Skype for almost two years now, and call quality to landlines has generally been good, at least acceptable. When I was in the States last June (I live in Ecuador), I made some free calls to my parents' landline and cell phone from a 3mb DSL connection. It sucked rocks! We could barely understand each other. Calling the very same number from the jungle of Ecuador over a 128kb DSL connection and paying Skype's 2.2 cents a minute, the connection was fine.
Also calling 1-800 numbers with Skype from Ecuador, which does not cost anything, sometimes renders horrible quality (and sometimes it is OK).
In any case, I think their "promotion" was a horrible idea. I would have gladly payed the 2.2 cents a minute from the States to get as good a connection as I do in Ecuador. I wonder how many people think badly of their service because of that.
I use both SIP and Skype (Score:3, Informative)
I use both SIP and Skype, but overall I feel that SIP is a better solution.
Skype to Skype calls work very well, but the quality of Skype to PTSN us less than acceptable. Even though 'Skype Out' is presently free, I've usually had to pick up a real phone to complete my call because of excessive latency, dropouts, and overall poor frequency response. It's definitely worse than a bad cell phone connection - not a service that I would ever consider paying for. The other problem with Skype is that there are no low cost stand alone network adapters as there are with SIP. A computer or an expensive Skype phone is required to complete the call. Furthermore, bandwidth on your computer and network can be used to process calls for other Skype users even though you are not making a call, as long as the application is running.
I also use SIP with Free World Dialup service and Direct IP dialing. My Sipura SIP adapter has 2 connections. An ethernet cable to my router provides the network connection and a regular telephone plugs into the adapter. The system runs stand alone 24/7 without a computer. Everything works like a normal phone. NAT is minor an annoyance, but not a serious problem. I supply my real IP address to the SIP adapter and the problem is solved. I've never needed to use a STUN server. Overall, the quality has been as good or better than PTSN.
Re:Use teamspeak instead (Score:4, Funny)
Are you viral marketing?
Parent
Re:Use teamspeak instead (Score:4, Insightful)
Does teamspeak allow my grandmother (and the rest of my family) to call me on a traditional UK phone number number when I'm in Belgium?
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Re:Use teamspeak instead (Score:5, Funny)
Does teamspeak allow my grandmother (and the rest of my family) to call me on a traditional UK phone number number when I'm in Belgium?
No. However, it'll help her coordinate with the rest of the raid in her guild's next Ony run.
Sheesh. Get some perspective.
Parent
Re:Other services (Score:4, Insightful)
Because in the real world, some of us need to talk to people whose telephony environment is outside of our dogmatic influence.
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