VoIP service provider Skype has rolled out new calling plans for international usage. A monthly $2.95 charge allows U.S. Skypers to connect to landlines and cell lines domestically and in Canada, while a few dollars more throws certain areas in Mexico into the mix. A $9.95 charge opens Skype connections to 34 countries worldwide.

Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service provider announced new and expanded calling plans Monday. The new offerings will enable subscribers to make calls to more than one-third of the world's population for a single monthly flat rate, the company said. The three new subscription plans come with no long-term contracts and provide users with up to 10,000 minutes, or five hours a day, of calling each month to 34 countries. Users are able to make calls to landline phones whenever they choose. About 6 percent of U.S. consumers have Skype installed on their PCs, and about 2 percent of consumers use Skype to conduct PC-to-PC voice chats on a regular basis, said Doug Williams, a JupiterResearch analyst. Just 1 percent of consumers regularly place calls from their PCs to a land line using any type of "Skype-Out" service from any provider.

Given those number, Williams does not believe changes in Skype's rate plans will have a great affect on adoption in the U.S.

"I doubt the new Skype plans will have much effect on U.S. consumers, because A) Skype's international calling rates were already much lower than traditional international calling rates, so those who placed a lot of international calls may already have been 'Skype-Out' customers; [and] B) the PC-to-PC Skype calling service is still free, and users who utilize the free service may have little incentive to switch to the paid service. Free is still less expensive than any flat-rate calling plan," he told the E-Commerce Times.  

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