Skype has announced that it will offer free long distance within the US and Canada. This means that a Skype user physically located within the US or Canada can call any landline located in the US or Canada using Skypeout at no charge. The limitations on the calling location appear to be implemented by recognizing IPs used by ISPs located within the US and Canada. Canadian and US residents traveling abroad, and Skype users located outside of North America, are expected to pay the Skypeout rates to call a PSTN number in the US or Canada. However, I suspect that users that utilize corporate VPNs that terminate in North America, or wifi hotspot users that subscribe to one of the pubic VPN services (such as hotspotVPN or PublicVPN) may find they will appear as located in North America even when traveling abroad (this will depend on the location of the public VPN server) and may be able to benefit from the free Skype offer. Another option might be to set up a VPN server on a home computer (for example, iOpus Private Internet Gateway (iPIG))or Internet router.

ZDnet UK recently had a story about T-Mobile in the UK baning (through its terms of use) the use of VOIP over its new Web’n’Walk Pro 3G network (which utilizes an HSDPA-enabled data card). Lets hope that regulators start paying more attention into the use of contractual prohibitions or technical impediments by licensed users of the public air waves (wireless carriers) to protect against cannibalization of competing services they offer.