Sticking it to The Man just got a little easier with Skype for iPhone's addition of multitasking support and elimination of plans to charge for calls over 3G. But can the ability to receive Skype calls any time really save you money? Let's look at the numbers and find out.
For People Who Don't Talk Much
AT&T won't let you get an iPhone data plan without voice minutes, so at the very least, you've got to pay $40 per month for 450 minutes. If you're not routinely talking for longer than that, Skype probably won't help you. Still, consider having long phone conversations over Skype just to reduce the chances of going over 450 minutes. This will help you collect rollover minutes as well.
For People Who Talk a Lot
Things get interesting when you regularly exceed 450 minutes per month. To truly replace your expensive voice plan, you'll need both a Skype subscription and an online number (formerly SkypeIn), which any phone can call.
A subscription for unlimited U.S. and Canada Skype calls costs $3 per month, and the number costs $12 for three months after a 33 percent discount for having a subscription. By committing to longer subscriptions, you can reduce the price even further: A full year's Skype subscription costs $30.48, and the discounted rate for a year of online number service costs $30.
Long story short, you can pay $60.48 per year, or roughly $5 per month, for unlimited calls to and from your Skype number. So instead of paying $60 for 900 AT&T minutes or $70 for unlimited minutes, you'll pay $45 for a basic 450-minute plan and Skype. More...
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