SkypeOut Goes Free in US, Canada

In an aggressive effort to build usage and adoption, eBay-owned Skype is making it's SkypeOut product free to US and Canadian users through the end of the year. Skype users can now call landlines and mobile phones free of charge. Here's the full release.

This clearly puts pressure on competitors and traditional telcos and should give the company a nice bump in usage in the US where it lags companies such as Vonage and cable companies in terms of brand awareness.

Here are some other recent posts about Skype and it's strategies beyond voice:

• Skype: Social Network with Voice
• What Exactly Is Skype?

Here's Om Malik with a range of thoughts on the announcement.