Re: skype, was: analog sunset & 911 access

On 2008-05-17, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote in
> news:g0l1dc$7ag$2@reader2.panix.com:
>> Just wondering... does skype interconnect to
>> the Cuban, North Korean, and PSTNs ("regular phones")
>> in the other countries the US pretends don't exist?
>
> http://skype.com/prices/callrates/
> These are rates w/o VAT (US)
> Cuba is $1.025 to phones.
> Korea Dem People's Rep $ 0.684
> Check the huge list for rates to other places, many of whom most never
> heard of. Skype is not limited by any US bureaucracy because it is not a
> US company.

If you want to phone one of these countries, however, you might be
better off using Rebtel, another European company, at $0.989 to
Cuba and $0.410 to North Korea for both mobiles and landlines
(Skype adds on an extra, gratuitous 10 or 20 cents per minute for
mobiles in these countries). Or as good is all-American Voicestick
at $0.984 to Cuba and $0.426 to North Korea, again the same for mobiles
and landlines.

In real life it takes real infrastructure like telephone switches
and transmission facilities to deliver phone calls in a country, so
in every country there are usually only a small number of players who
will service VoIP operators (in those particular countries there's
probably only one). All VoIP operators deal with the same small
set of carriers, perhaps through the same small set of wholesalers,
so all VoIP operators will have about the same connectivity. It is
also no surprise that Rebtel and Voicestick are charging about the
same amount to call countries with monopoly carriers since they're
probably being charged about the same amount by those carriers, and
both those companies seem to operate on fairly small margins.

Skype's costs are probably, if anything, lower than those other
two companies since Skype's volumes are a lot higher, but Skype
is a money-making operation and buy-low-sell-high is a good way
to make money. Charging differential rates for mobiles in countries
which don't seem to actually charge differential rates to call
mobiles is a particularly nice touch.

Skype has a few nice things on their price list, if you can stick
to those and avoid the other stuff, and Skype's free stuff is
always good if you can make use of it. Skype is not a particularly
cheap way to make overseas calls to phones, however.

Dennis Ferguson

Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
news:slrng2uags.4t.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com:

> If you are using Skype call forwarding to forward inbound calls to
> your cell phone the calls aren't free, they're 2.1 cents/minute
> plus the 4 cent connection charge. Unlike other VoIP operators,
> Skype's flat rate plans only cover calls you dial. Forwarded calls
> are charged at normal per-minute rates.

Not if you have Skype Out Unlimited, then they're free.

Forwarding to my cell costs me nothing extra....about $2.08/month
unlimited.

>
> This is one of the reasons why comparing Skype charges to other
> companies on an apples-to-apples basis is so difficult. Skype
> isn't usually feature-for-feature equivalent.
>
> Dennis Ferguson
>

Skype is terrible and should be avoided at all costs....

At 17 May 2008 15:00:14 +0000 Larry wrote:

> Your omnipotent view of the FCC and USA Bureaucrats is flawed. Skype is
> NOT a USA company, so is NOT subject to its laws/flaws.

It is when it starts selling US phone numbers. A little Googling shows
that they talked to the Feds to get an exemption from E911. The Feds seem
to have classified them as a voice IM system like GoogleTalk, rather than a
true VoIP, which protects them from the 911 rules.

> When you make
> payment to your Skype account, you are making payments to Luxembourg.
> Skype has no presence in the United States so is not subject to its laws
> just because a majority of its users are US Citizens living in the USA.


Again, they sell US numbers, so they probably have to comply, else they
wouldn't have had to seek an exemption..

On 2008-05-17, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
> news:slrng2uags.4t.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com:
>
>> If you are using Skype call forwarding to forward inbound calls to
>> your cell phone the calls aren't free, they're 2.1 cents/minute
>> plus the 4 cent connection charge. Unlike other VoIP operators,
>> Skype's flat rate plans only cover calls you dial. Forwarded calls
>> are charged at normal per-minute rates.
>
> Not if you have Skype Out Unlimited, then they're free.
>
> Forwarding to my cell costs me nothing extra....about $2.08/month
> unlimited.

Ah, you're right. It wasn't included with Skype Pro or the
old US & Canada unlimited, but it is now. Now it is like
the other operators.

Dennis Ferguson

Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in
news:A6NXj.1334$ZB5.603@fe087.usenetserver.com:

> It is when it starts selling US phone numbers. A little Googling
> shows that they talked to the Feds to get an exemption from E911. The
> Feds seem to have classified them as a voice IM system like
> GoogleTalk, rather than a true VoIP, which protects them from the 911
> rules.
>
>> When you make
>> payment to your Skype account, you are making payments to Luxembourg.
>> Skype has no presence in the United States so is not subject to its
>> laws just because a majority of its users are US Citizens living in
>> the USA.
>
>
> Again, they sell US numbers, so they probably have to comply, else
> they wouldn't have had to seek an exemption..
>
>

But, as someone said earlier, Skype In has no calling from those numbers so
cannot initiate a 911 call on an incoming-only line. Skype Out goes
through the internet to Luxembourg where the call is internet distributed
to a regional interconnect center even the Mossad may not be able to listen
in on.

The split system, sold in pieces may have been a very good political move.

Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
news:slrng2vb8p.o7.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com:

> Ah, you're right. It wasn't included with Skype Pro or the
> old US & Canada unlimited, but it is now. Now it is like
> the other operators.
>
> Dennis Ferguson
>
>

I installed Skype into a Best Buy demo Sony PSP-2000 video game, this
afternoon, but was unable to use it because there was no headphone/mic
available, a proprietary, of course, headphone with a wierd plug. I did
call it from my Skype on the tablet and I could hear it ringing. I called
the tablet from it and it rang the tablet so I guess it really does work.
I was using the hobbled up Best Buy wifi through BB's filter, which, of
course, is quite useless to filter out Skype.