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Mobile Skype Application Now Available to Canadian iPhone Users

1:59 am on September 9, 2009 | Category: Cell Phones, Software, VoIP, Web Services

After a lengthy wait, Skype’s internet VoIP software is now available to iPhone and iPod Touch users in Canada.

The Skype application, which has been available in the U.S. and other markets since late March, could not initially be distributed in Canada due to a licensing issue over how the iPhone plays sound.

This issue has recently been “taken care of,” according to Skype’s director of market development, Tom Yeung, meaning that it is now possible to place Skype VoIP calls from any Wi-Fi hotspot in Canada.

Just as with Skype’s PC application, calls to other computers are free, while calls to landlines and mobile phones are available for a minimal fee.

Skype’s incoming VoIP service, SkypeIn, which allows users to receive digital calls on their mobile devices, remains unavailable in Canada due to a regulatory requirement that all telephone providers must offer ‘enhanced’ 911 emergency service.

SkypeIn is “one product that we’re constantly trying to widen with distribution,” Yeung explained. “Canada happens to have more complex laws and regulations. We’re still working on it.”

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