Skype Technologies

Skype Technologies S.A. (also known as Skype Software S.A., Skype Communications S.A., Skype Inc. and Skype Limited) is a Microsoft-owned telecommunications company headquartered in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. The software continues to be licensed by, and operated by, Skype Technologies.Skype, a voice over IP (VoIP) service, was first released in 2003 as a way to make free computer-to-computer calls, or reduced-rate calls from a computer to telephones. Support for paid services such as calling landline/mobile phones from Skype (formerly called SkypeOut), allowing landline/mobile phones to call Skype (formerly called SkypeIn and now Skype Number), and voice messaging generates the majority of Skype's revenue.eBay acquired Skype Technologies S.A. in September 2005 and in April 2009 announced plans to spin it off in a 2010 Initial Public Offering (IPO). In September 2009, Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announced the acquisition of 65% of Skype for $1.9 billion from eBay, valuing the business at $2.75 billion. Skype was later acquired by Microsoft in May 2011 for $8.5 billion.As of 2010, Skype was available in 27 languages and has 660 million worldwide users, an average of over 100 million active each month, and has faced challenges to its intellectual property amid political concerns by governments wishing to control telecommunications systems within their borders.