Skype

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and, in some countries, to free-of-charge numbers, are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing. Skype has experienced rapid growth in popular usage since the launch of its services. The company was acquired by eBay in September 2005 for $2.6 billion. eBay has written Skype down to $1.7 billion on its books and announced a public stock offering for 2010 to spin Skype off as a separate company. A Skype user can have local numbers in any of these countries, with calls to the number charged at the same rate as calls to fixed lines in the country. Some jurisdictions, including France, Germany and South Africa, forbid the registration of their telephone numbers to anyone without a physical presence or residency in the country.
Skype does not provide the ability to call emergency numbers such as 911 in the United States and Canada, 000 in Australia, 112 in Europe, or 999 in the UK. The FCC has ruled that, for the purposes of section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, Skype is not an "interconnected VoIP provider". As a result, the U.S. National Emergency Number Association recommends that all VoIP users have an analog line available as a backup. Skype is responsible for 8% of global international calling minutes, and with its users making 3.1 billion minutes of calls to landlines and mobiles in the third quarter of 2009, users made 27.7 billion minutes of Skype-to-Skype calls, and over a third of these were video calls. Skype is a leading global internet communications company.