Yahoo to Offer $.01/min U.S. Voice Calling

Yahoo says a new version of Yahoo Messenger will sport a "Phone Out" feature which will enable users to place $.01/min voice calls to the U.S.

In a move sure to rankle Skype’s new corporate masters over at eBay, online titan Yahoo has let slip that the forthcoming version of Yahoo Messenger (due any day now at voice.yahoo.com) will offer a “Phone Out” capability which will enable users to place one cent per-minute voice calls to the United States from anywhere in the world, and 2 cents per-minute voice calls to other countries, including China, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, and France.

The pricing significantly undercuts voice-over-Internet leader Skype’s 2.1 cents per-minute rate in the U.S., although is basically on par with Skype for placing calls to countries other than the United States.

Ironically, although Yahoo has offered voice capabilities with its instant messaging software since 2000, Skype currently leads the voice-over-Internet pack with nearly 70 million registered users worldwide, although many of them use free computer-to-computer calling rather than the fee-based computer-to-traditional phone “Skype Out” service. Other instant messaging clients from AOL, Apple, and Microsoft have also offered voice capabilities similar to Skype’s, but only Skype stressed voice calling as its primary feature, where other instant messaging services sought to integrate themselves into email services and mobile phones.

Yahoo’s pricing move is also a quick echo of recent comments from eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who predicted competition will quickly make voice calling via the Internet free of charge, with services competing on the basis of ease-of-use and paid-for value-added services.