Swedish internet provider to charge extra for VoIP services like Skype

Swedish telecommunications company TeliaSonera is planning to charge customers extra to use voice over IP services such as Skype. The company won’t be unveiling the details of this plan until August, but has reportedly already begun a trial with one of its Spanish subsidiaries, with a model that charged customers €6 (about US$7.50) for 100MB worth of VoIP calls per month. Whether or not this pricing scheme will be the same in Sweden remains to be seen, but a TeliaSonera spokesperson said that current customers won’t have to start paying extra until their current contracts run out. “Also, we will continue to offer subscription packages where VoIP calls are included in the subscription price,” they added. Earlier this year the Netherlands became the first member of the European Union to pass net neutrality regulation, which prevents internet providers from charging extra for these kinds of services.