Skype Offers U.S., Canadian Customers Free Calling

Skype, the voice-over-IP (VoIP) provider owned by online auctioneer eBay, on Monday announced that it will allow its customers in the United States and Canada to place calls from their PCs to traditional landline telephones, as well as mobiles, free of charge until the beginning of next year, Reuters reports.

In the past, Skype customers had to pay to place VoIP calls to landlines.

Skype hopes the move will boost awareness of its service—as well as its usage—in those regions, where adoption of VoIP technology has been slower than in other places around the world, according to Reuters.

The news comes just days after the company announced its new translation service and weeks after it said it reached the 100 million subscriber mark.

For more, read Skype, Language Line Services, Voxeo to Debut Global Translation Service and Skype Reaches 100M User Mark.

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