Skype unveils £6.95 unlimited, phone anywhere subs

Skype has unveiled its new paid-subscription packages today, claiming to offer UK residents 'unlimited' calls to over a third of the world’s population (well, their landlines at least) for a mere £6.95 a month.

Skype informs us that: "The new subscriptions signal the first time Skype has offered a single, monthly flat rate for international calling to landline numbers in 34 countries."

However, it also defines "unlimited" as actually meaning a limit of 10,000 minutes per month. Which is still more than enough minutes for most, TechRadar feels, if not strictly unlimited. A minor point, but still...

Natural step

Stefan Oberg, VP & GM telecoms at Skype said: "This move is a natural step for Skype. Skype was founded on the principle of making free voice and video calls available to people all around the world. And now we’re making it even easier for the Skype community to call their friends and family who are not yet on Skype. Our subscriptions give people an easy, hassle-free choice for how and when they want to catch up with their loved ones."

There are now three packages on offer for UK Skype customers from 'unlimited' calls to landlines in the country of your choice through to landlines in 34 destination countries worldwide. They range from £1.95 per month for "Unlimited Country" to £2.95 a month for “Unlimited Europe” up to £6.95 each month for "Unlimited World".

Some 309 million people worldwide currently use Skype and there’s no need to sign yourself up for long-term binding contracts if you don’t want to. Users that sign up for a 3-month or 12-month period before 1 June 2008, will receive a further 33 per cent discount.