Additionally, all calls between skype members are free of charge. Even with video.
They only charge you when an actual phone is involved - for example, calling from your Skype account to his cell phone or landline in Germany.
However, I can personally attest that skype is very reasonable about these rates. For example, calling from Japan to the USA I got charged a very affordable 2.5 cents per minute. So a forty-five minute call (about average for my weekly phone calls to home) would run about $1.13 dollars. Supposing I made one call every week, my monthly international phone bill ran about $4.50. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
Just make sure that the both of you have reasonably fast internet connections and that the service is rock-solid. Most FiOS connections work great. DSL is good to if the infrastructure in your are is fairly new (laid or replaced in the last 30 years). If Digital Cable is offered in your area then their internet service is most likely decent, too. Although to my knowledge, cable isn't as widespread in other countries as DSL and FiOS is.
In more remote regions satellite service is the only way to go, but the problem there is the insane ping times that makes it useless for anything requiring low latency like VOIP or online gaming.
They only charge you when an actual phone is involved - for example, calling from your Skype account to his cell phone or landline in Germany.
However, I can personally attest that skype is very reasonable about these rates. For example, calling from Japan to the USA I got charged a very affordable 2.5 cents per minute. So a forty-five minute call (about average for my weekly phone calls to home) would run about $1.13 dollars. Supposing I made one call every week, my monthly international phone bill ran about $4.50. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
Just make sure that the both of you have reasonably fast internet connections and that the service is rock-solid. Most FiOS connections work great. DSL is good to if the infrastructure in your are is fairly new (laid or replaced in the last 30 years). If Digital Cable is offered in your area then their internet service is most likely decent, too. Although to my knowledge, cable isn't as widespread in other countries as DSL and FiOS is.
In more remote regions satellite service is the only way to go, but the problem there is the insane ping times that makes it useless for anything requiring low latency like VOIP or online gaming.