The End of Cellular Voice Plans?
No more worrying about going over your minutes! In fact, a new program for BlackBerrys could do away with mobile voice plans entirely. IM+ from Shape Services is the first Skype client for the BlackBerry. On the PC, Skype users can make voice calls to each other for free over the Internet, or call regular cell phones and landlines for as little as two cents per minute, or $24.95 per year unlimited.
Skype has previously been available on certain Wi-Fi-enabled phones, which required Wi-Fi Internet access to function. IM+ uses Wi-Fi or your provider's 3G, GSM or CDMA data network to make calls over the Internet. This means you could cancel your voice plan and use only your data plan for Internet, e-mail and calls.
IM+ is a one-time investment of $25. Skype's unlimited plan is $24.95 per year. Divided by 12 months, that's a little more than $4 per month for voice calls. After year one, that drops to $2. The average entry-level voice plan from a provider is somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 per month. (Note: You must still pay for a data plan.)
We're excited by the future of this technology, but not totally ready to cancel our voice plan yet. Skype is still in its infancy and has a little work to do before it's as reliable and as easy to use as the old way of making calls -- as unreliable as that can sometimes be.
From CrunchGear
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rosalind K Tucker @ May 31st 2007 8:35PM
I think the Skype Software would be a better and more efficient way to communicate on the internet.