Skype's $12.9 billion giveaway in international calls

In a blog posting by Phil Woolf he writes that " One in nine cross-border minutes was a free Skype-to-Skype call last year. That's $12.9 billion in international calls Skype gave its users for free assuming Skype's customers would pay a world average market price of roughly $0.24 per minute." He also highlights some factors that contribute to this such as:

When making Skype-to-Skype calls, you don't worry about the call charge

Skype voice calls can run for hours, because you using a free or prepaid internet connection

As a result Skype is encouraging users to speak longer and call more often

Many businesses, families and friends who live or work apart globally are easily connected by SKYPE, in addition they can make video calls as well as free voice calls. It will be interesting to see what the main telecom giants are doing about this situation of free or even low costs international calls, that eat into their revenue and call tariffs. For more information please have a look at the below links. Source Skype Journal http://skypejournal.com/2010/01/skype-gave-away-129-billion-in-free.html Graphical chart data by telegeography and Skype Journal can also be found at the above link.

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