Calling Skype in Chile

I've got an awesome Skype account. Instead of just the free skype download that let's me talk to other skypers, I can receive phone calls via a US phone number, despite the fact that I live in Santiago, Chile. And I only pay 30 Euros a year (about 40 bucks) for the service. If I'm not online, people leave messages in the free voicemail provided by Skype. (Theoretically, those calls could get forwarded to my cell phone, but I'm not brave enough to try that yet).

In addition, I can reach people by calling out to their cell phones and landlines, anywhere in the world. After filling up with 10 Euros and have about half a year of calling, because it's usually about 2 cents a minute. Hours and hours and hours.

But there's something weird about Skype service in Chile (at least of Telefónica's lines). Someone in Santiago tried calling my cell phone here and it sounded like he had strept throat, I couldn't make out a word. Also, I've pretty much given up on using Skype when making important calls out from Santiago, and instead have resorted to international phone cards.

My experience is that people don't like it when I call them on Skype from Chile, they can barely hear me, so that I have to yell into the headset. I've heard Skype in Chile works fine on VTR (I always am on Telefónica's lines).

So I only use Skype from Chile to call banks and other faceless institutions. Even so, I save a lot of money. For friends and family and clients, it's phone cards. Can you use a phone card with Skype? Not that I know of. But why would you want to? Skype by itself has great rates, usually about 2 cents a minute.

If you're calling a cell phone in Chile Skype, you'll be charged local cell phone rates, about 24.3 cents a minute including VAT (tax). If you're calling a land line in Chile, the call will cost 2.4 cents a minute, tax included. And the interface is nice, you don't have to dial Chile's country code (+56), but instead just scroll down and click on Chile

Despite using Telefónica's lines, Skype-to-Skype calls great. Those are free for anyone with a Skype download. Really clear and beautiful, like you're in the room with the person. Unfortunately, most people still seem to be easier to reach by phone than by VoIP, and those are the people you have to apologize to for using Skype.

But why is it that Skype is extra fuzzy from Chile? It was always fine when calling from the US; I remember a perfectly lucid conversation with a friend in Taipei, Taiwan as he dipped underground on the inter-city train, came out and stared up at the tallest building in the world. But calling from Santiago makes it sound like you're being strangled and beaten.

A while back I wrote a piece for the Santiago Times about how Chile's Free Competition Defense Court actually did take the first-world route by ruling against Telefónica, a Spanish-owned company that was trying to do to Chile what it can't do in its own country: block VoIP companies from using the fiber optic cables that run Telefónica's networks.

Still, I'm suspicious that Teléfonica is making VoIP a pain in the ass. But I have nothing to back up that suspicion except vitriol, and the fact that Teléfonica never ceases to amaze.

Overall, having a Skype number "SkypeIn" has been great. And making cheap, necessary calls on "SkypeOut" -- even if I have to yell -- has saved me money and the hassle of buying a phone card many times over. Also, it's not always bad. I've had sporadic good luck at Internet Cafes and on my own laptop. Even in Chile, Skype is a good deal whether doing SkypeIn or SkypeOut, or both.