Skype Calling Plans
While calls to other Skype users are free, Skype users do also want to converse with their family, friends and business colleagues who do not have Skype access but do have conventional landline or mobile phone services (“PSTN“). Skype offers two program for making the connection.
You’ll never get a phone bill with Skype!
Calls to the PSTN may be prepaid through either:
- a monthly or full year Skype Calling Plan subscription or
- a “Pay-per-Use” basis.
Unique to Skype is that payment for “Pay-per-Use” services is done via Skype Credits which you purchase in advance of making calls or using a service. In fact, you can even use Skype Credits to pay for faxes sent via PamFax.
A Fair Usage policy applies to all Skype Calling Plan subscriptions which limit these plans to a 10,000 minutes per month, six hours calling per day and calls to 50 numbers per day. A third party utility, Subscription Monitor for Skype, provides a real time dashboard of your Skype usage.
SkypeOut allows Skype users to make outbound calls to these phones worldwide. Rates vary by (termination) country; they start out at 2.1 cents per minute to over 30 countries including most of North America and Europe. All SkypeOut calls are subject to a small connection fee. Should you not have a Skype Calling Plan subscription, SkypeOut calls require that you purchase Skype Credits.
Note re calling mobile (wireless) phones: In Canada, the United States, China, Hong Kong and Singapore it is the user of the mobile phone who is responsible for paying costs for both inbound and outbound calls to/from a mobile phone. Outside these countries the wireless companies have a “caller pays” approach whereby a mobile phone user pays for outbound calls whereas the person calling, regardless of origination point, pays for inbound calls. As a result SkypeOut rates to mobile phones outside the five countries named above can be as much as an order of magnitude greater than calls to landlines in these countries.
Connection Fees Update (Sept. 2009):
For those consumer users with a Skype Calling Plan subscription, connection fees do not apply for calls to phone numbers in the Global Rate countries included within their particular Calling Plan. While the following table is a summary consult Skype’s Connection Fee page for more details:
| Connection Fees | Within a Skype Calling Plan | Without a Skype Calling Plan |
| Call another Skype user | No connection fee | No connection fee |
| Call a phone number included in a Skype Calling Plan | No connection fee | US$0.039, C$0.059, €0.039, £0.029 |
| Call a Phone number in a Global Rate country but not included in a Skype Calling Plan | US$0.039, C$0.059, €0.039, £0.029 (includes mobile numbers in ALL countries where “Caller Pays”) | US$0.039, C$0.059, €0.039, £0.029 |
| Call a phone number in a Non-Global Rate country | US$0.079, C$0.119, €0.079, £0.059 | US$0.079, C$0.119, €0.079, £0.059 |
See Skype Calling Plans below for a list of Global Rate countries.
Skype Online Number provides an online phone number such that people can call you on Skype from any landline or mobile phone. You can have as many as 10 SkypeIn numbers to a single Skype account selected from 28 available countries.
For instance, if you operate in the U.S. but have customers in the U.K. who need a “local” support number, you can obtain a London number that comes back to your Skype account in the U.S. (or wherever you may be if you’re a road warrior). A European-based caller will only pay any charges to call a London, U.K. number thereby avoiding high overseas rates for a call to the U.S. SkypeIn numbers cost $60 per year but have a 50% discount if you subscribe to a Skype Calling plan.
Skype Online Numbers can be purchased for $18 for three months or $60 for a year; a 50% discount applies to the first number should you have a Skype Calling Plan subscription.
SMS messaging: from Skype you can send SMS messages to any mobile phone worldwide. If you send a chat message but the user is determined to be not available, you are given the option to send the message via SMS if the recipient has included his/her mobile number in his/her Skype profile. Be warned that Skype SMS messages require that you have purchased Skype credits; click here for rates by destination country.
What’s Free (worldwide):
- Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls
- Instant Messaging
- File Transfer
- Skype Conference calls (up to 25 participants, all on Skype)
Skype Calling Plans are full service plans, based on the originating geographical location of calls. They may be purchased as a monthly or annual subscription; no contracts are required. They combine:
free calls to any designated phone within the designated territory for the plan
- no connection fee
- landline and mobile for Canada, U.S., China, Hong Kong, Singapore
- landline only for 39 other countries
- subject to a fair use policy of 10,000 minutes/month
- Skype voice mail
- 50% discount off one Skype Online number
- Skype To Go number
Important: All rates shown below are as of April 1 , 2009 and subject to change at Skype’s discretion. Click on the various “signup” links to the Skype website for details.
North American Plans:
- Unlimited US and Canada: US$2.95 per month
- Unlimited Country: US$5.95 per month
- Unlimited US and Canada plus
- unlimited to landlines in one of 44 other countries
- Unlimited Mexico: US$5.95 per month
- Unlimited US and Canada plus
- unlimited to landlines in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey
- discounted rates to other locations and mobile phones in Mexico
- Unlimited Worldwide: US$12.95 per month
- Unlimited US and Canada plus:
- unlimited to 41 countries worldwide
- unlimited to landlines in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey
- discounted rates to other locations and mobile phones in Mexico
- Sign up here
European Plans
- Unlimited Country: €3.95 or £2.95 per month
- landline calls within “local” country
- Unlimited Europe: €5.95 or £3.95 per month
- landline calls within 20 European countries
- Unlimited World: €8.95 or £6.95 per month
- landline calls to 44 countries plus to cell phones in US, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore
- Sign up here (Euros, GBP)
Asia: click here for details and signup (US$, Euros, GBP)
- Unlimited Country: US$5.95, €3.95 or £2.95 per month
- unlimited to landlines in one of 44 countries
- Unlimited World: US$12.95, €8.95 or £6.95 per month
- landline calls to 44 countries plus to cell phones in US, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore
Brazil: click here for details and signup (US$, Euros)
- Brazil 400: limited to 400 minutes within Brazil
- World 400: 400 minutes within Brazil plus unlimited calling to landlines in 44 countries
- Unlimited World: unlimited calling to landlines in 44 countries (no Brazil component)
New: Calling plans for India and South Africa
Rest of World: click here for details and signup (US$, Euros, GBP)
- Unlimited Country: US$5.95, €3.95 or £2.95 per month
- unlimited to landlines in one of 44 countries
- Unlimited World: US$12.95, €8.95 or £6.95 per month
- landline calls to 44 countries plus to cell phones in US, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore
Popularity: 18% [?]
Tags: calling plans, Skype Calling Plans, SkypeIn, SkypeOut, SMS
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I would like to clarify the World 400 Skype plan. As description appear here it says: “World 400: 400 minutes within Brazil PLUS unlimited calling to landlines in 40 countries”
And at Skype web site says: World 400: 400 minutes of calls to landlines in Brazil AND over 40 countries per month”
And that makes a huge difference, because here says it’s is 400 minutes to Brazil and plus unlimited to over 40 countries and skype website it can be understood that is shared this 400 minutes to Brazil and over 40 countries.
So that is my question. I think would be fare if was 400min to Brazil and plus unlimited over 40 countries, as says here, and once the cost of the two plans make the World400 subscription price. But I do not comprehend this from Skype website.
Thank you for you attention,
Revised Sept. 25 to reflect that Skype has recently added more countries to their “World” calling plans; as of Sept. 25, 2009 these plans cover 44 countries.
Skype is not that cheap to South Africa either land lines or mobiles, calls to land lines on Call2Call are 2.5 pence per minute and mobiles are 7 pence per minute, Skype will only be cheap to SA via Skype itself, otherwise call cards are even cheaper.