Skype became the largest operator of overseas communication

1st May 2009

In 2008 Skype has become the largest operator of international voice calls. Its market share makes up eight percent. This was reported by Wired, with the reference to the research of TeleGeography company. In 2008, the voice traffic of Skype users was 33 billion minutes. This is 41 percent more than in 2007. The total volume of international voice communication market in 2008 has amounted to 384 billion minutes. Of 33 billion minutes, which were spoke by Skype users in the past year, 25 billion were accounted for the free communication between two Skype clients.
The share of paid calls is a little more than eight billion minutes. The subscribers of Skype IP-telephony service can phone to each other for free. The use of Skype becomes chargeable when Skype user calls to a phone number. The total amount of Skype users exceeds 300 million. In 2005, Skype was bought by online auction eBay for three billion dollars. Leaders of eBay expect that by 2011 Skype will make up billion dollars a year. But it is possible that if the online auction will not be able to integrate IP-telephony service into its main business, theyâ€™ll have to sell Skype.