Widely-used VoIP service Skype has confirmed that a software issue has created connectivity problems for many users of its voice, video, and text communication services. Many Skype users aren’t able to log into the service at all, and those who can get through often can’t see or connect to people on their contact lists, even if they can confirm through other channels (like email, traditional phone, etc.) that users are, in fact, online and accessible. Other users report substantial latency and delay even when the service is operating, with text messages sometimes being delayed 15 to 45 minutes.
Skype says it hopes to have the problems resolved within 12 to 24 hours; that would be between 9 AM and 9 PM EDT August 16—for folks used to converting from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), that translates to 2AM to 2PM, August 17. In the meantime, the company has disabled download of the Skype application. Skype recommends users leave their versions of the Skype application running so that they can automatically log back in once service is restored.
Skype has not released any information on how many users may be impacted by the outage, but reports indicate users worldwide have been impacted, including Skype users in the United States, Germany, France, Brazil, Japan, and Australia.
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