Some Skype connection fees up from 3.9 to 7.9 cents per call
Skype-to-Skype calls are free. Skype sometimes charges you a small connection fee for Skype-to-PSTN calls in addition to your per-minute rate. The rates to non-"Global Rate" markets go up four cents per call on Sunday, 6 September 2009 to US$0.079 (about 8 cents).
CORRECTION: "With a calling plan there is never a connection fee, regardless of where you call".
Do you have one of Skype's calling plans? Calls are free of connection fees.
Without a calling plan you'll continue to pay 3.9 cents for each call to mobiles or landlines in Skype's Global Rate markets (listed below). Now, without a plan, your connection fee is 7.9 cents per call outside those markets.
The Global Rate destinations: Argentina - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Cordoba, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Denmark - Shared Cost, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hong Kong - Mobile, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Hungary, Korea, Republic of Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico - Mexico City, Mexico - Monterrey, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Norway - Shared Cost, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia - Moscow, Russia - St.Petersburg, Singapore, Singapore - Mobile, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, USA.
Why did Skype raise the rates?
Does this new pricing simplify buying and calling choices? Does it make Skypers switch from pay-as-you-go to a subscription? Does it help prevent predatory calling or unwanted telemarketing? I think not. Most people will not notice the four cent increase. Are termination costs really higher outside of Skype's Global Rates markets? Possibly. This might offset those costs.
How much more revenue will this price increase bring?
Skype doesn't report the number of calls made or call volume by country. So let's guess [See the Google Docs spreadsheet and play with the the numbers yourself]. Skype reported 3 billion minutes of SkypeIn/SkypeOut calling. Let's say ten percent are to non-Global Rate markets (I suspect it's a larger share). And that Skype calls average 10 minutes (much longer than the average PSTN call, a little shorter than free Skype-to-Skype calls). 3x(10^9) minutes * 10% of all calls / 10 minutes per call. So, 30 million calls per quarter. At 4 cents more per call, that puts new income around $5 million each year. Or more. What's your guess?
tags: skype, prices, rates, connectionfee, tariff, analysis, strategy
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3 Comments:
"CORRECTION: "With a calling plan there is never a connection fee, regardless of where you call". "
This is incorrect. You pay a connection fee if you have a subscription and are calling a number outside your subscription
They're just losing another customer like me who is switching to Yahoo Voice because it's cheaper there..
I have a subscription plan but why is it that even when I call landlines (through Skype-To-Go, on my mobile and calling the landlines in the 'correct' countries) I always see some money taken off from my mobile? Not from Skype Credit, just from my mobile credit. This really confuses me and I feel like I'm paying more than I should.
Can anyone explain or tell me how to go around this?
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