Skype, one of the world's largest voice-over-internet protocol service providers, has implemented a 39 HK cents connection fee per call for all outgoing international calls.
Skype's move comes as Hong Kong-listed telecommunications company e-Kong Group launches a free mainland-call offer for its software-based ZoiPPE telephone service to cover the Lunar New Year period as a prelude to introducing its service globally.
Skype and its internet-based rivals use software that enables a computer to call another computer for free or to a fixed-line telephone or mobile handset at a relatively cheap tariff compared with other telecommunications operators.
The connection fee has been implemented first for the Skype Out service, which allows users to make calls to mobile and fixed-line numbers.
The new charges for users registered in Hong Kong involve the connection fee for each call on top of a per-minute cost to various destinations.
The connection fee is part of a strategy to offer 'a simple, convenient and cost-effective way for consumers worldwide to call land lines and mobiles over the internet,' Skype said in an announcement last month.
