The new subscription plans cover 170 countries and will launch Thursday. According to Skype, the plans, which start at $1.09 a month and offer call rates as low as 1 cent per minute to any of the 170 countries, come in one-month, three-month and 12-month calling increments and 60-minute to unlimited time increments. Skype claims the plans will save users as much as 60 percent of what they pay for Skype's existing Pay As You Go rates.
Skype users have been asking for customized subscription plans that reflect how often they use the service, according to the company. Under the new plans, users can preselect countries they want to call, what types of devices -- mobile phones or landlines or both -- they want to call, and then what subscription plan to buy into.
"Skype's new monthly subscriptions lower the cost of international calling and make it simple to choose the plan that best meets your needs," said Neil Stevens, general manager of Skype's consumer business unit, in a statement. "People around the world can now have the simplicity and flexibility to call almost any phone in the world for less."
On Wednesday, the Associated Press also reported that Skype is planning to launch a group video chat feature for Skype through which as many as five Skype users will be able to participate in a simultaneous video call. The feature will be free at launch, according to what Skype's Stevens told the AP, but Skype will start charging for it in a few months.
The group video chat will be available to Windows PC users first, Stevens added, and a Mac version is on the way for later in the year.
Skype is still viewed primarily as a consumer VoIP and video service, but the company has made inroads into enterprise business, too, and is in recruitment mode for partners as part of a slowly-rolling-out formal value-added channel program.
The dominant players in the videoconferencing channel have eyed Skype with equal parts curiosity and suspicion, especially as various unified communications and networking vendors embrace Skype integration for their products.
According to TeleGeography Research, Skype calls now account for about 12 percent of all international calls. Many observers see the lines between consumer and business-centric networking tools continuing to blur as Skype's video- and VoIP-centric features become more sophisticated.
related stories
Video
trending stories
sponsored resources

Application Integration 360

Veeam
Veeam

Cato Networks
SASE & SD-WAN 360

Channel Chief Showcase

CRN Showcase

APC by Schneider Electric
Digital Services for Edge Learning Center

Acer
Remote Workforce 360

Cradlepoint
5g for Business 360

Smart 3rd Party
3rd Party Maintenance 360

Trend Micro
Trend Micro Learning Center

Vonage
Vonage

Sophos
Sophos Cybersecurity Learning Center

Partner Program Guide Showcase

Hitachi Vantara
Hitachi Vantara

SentinelONE
EndPoint Security 360

Comm100
Collaboration & Communications 360

VMware

HubStor
Cloud Backup 360

Wasabi
Wasabi

Cysurance
Cyber Insurance 360

Dell Technologies
Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies Learning Center

Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies Storage Learning Center

Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies Server Learning Center

Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies Cloud Learning Center

Sherweb
Sherweb

Carbonite
Cloud Storage 360

Comcast Business
Comcast Business Learning Center

iboss
Cloud SASE Platform 360

Terranova Security
Cybersecurity 360

CyberPower
CyberPower

N-able
MSP Automation Solutions 360

eSentire
Managed Detection and Response 360

EPOS
EPOS

NPD
Industry Trends 360

Vertiv
Edge Computing Learning Center

Webroot
Webroot Learning Center

Tenable
Cyber Risk 360

BlackBerry
BlackBerry Learning Center

Fujifilm
Fujifilm
