Soon there really will be no more excuses for not phoning home as Skype has announced that it's introducing unlimited international calls on Monday. The plan will allow unlimited calls to land-line phones in 34 countries for $9.95 per month.

The offer will cover calls to most of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. So as long as you're loved ones are not in outer Mongolia you're onto a winner. The move follows Skype's offer of unlimited calls to the U.S. and Canada for $3 a month.

Is it the beginning of the end for phone companies as we know them? It could well be; Skype has said that users called phones for 1.7 billion minutes in the first three months of 2008 compared with the 14.2 billion minutes used calling with the free computer to computer service.