Skype Reminder: Free North American Calling Ends

Don’t forget that as of midnight last night, free SkypeOut calling in North America ended. Instead, until Jan 31st, 2007, you can an entire year of unlimited SkypeOut for only US$14.95. That’s barely over a dollar a month for free long distance to landlines and mobile phones in North America. After this time, the price goes up to $29.95 for a full year. Despite the occasional call quality problems, I’m going to get mine in a few days. You can even pay with PayPal (which makes sense considering Skype’s parent company eBay owns PayPal).

If you want people to be able to call you on your Skype softphone, you’ll need a SkypeIn phone number, which is only availabe in the US in select area codes. Canadians are out of luck for now. As for the rest of the world, SkypeIn numbers are available in a total of 14 countries including the UK (limited areas). Skype will also be announcing “disruptive” rates for the entire world in February.