FROM: Daesung Group

     -51% on average (China by ₩11.9/min, India by ₩16.2/min, 
       Thailand by ₩24.9/min)
    - With the cut in phone rates, Daesung expects to sharpen its competitiveness
       and gain ground in the international calling market.

Daesung Skype (skype.daesung.com) has announced that it will cut international phone rates starting December 11. The new rates feature a significant drop in rates to countries popular with Koreans. This rate cut is aimed at increasing the company’s competitiveness in the global call market and will be effectively immediately for Korea and other countries around the world.
 
Rates will be slashed by 51 percent on average on 152 calling plans to 57 countries to which Skype provides services. For example, phone calls to India will see an 81 percent reduction from KRW85.4/min to KRW16.2/min; Thailand 80 percent from KRW122/min to KRW24.9/min; and China 52 percent from KRW24.4/min to KRW11.9/min. In some countries, the rates will slightly go up due to changes in connection costs but only by some 3 percent, so the actual call charges will remain virtually unchanged. Visit skype.daesung.com to check on the new rates for each country. 

Skype, which already has 800 million subscribers around the world and handles 34 percent of the total international call traffic, differentiates itself from global mobile messenger services such as Kakao Talk, Line and WeChat by offering not only in-network free calls but also out-of-network calling services with Skype Credit. The number of calls that local Skype subscribers make to foreign countries is also gradually growing. 

Foreigners living in Korea who are sensitive to phone rates and Korean students studying abroad who make a lot of international calls are expected to welcome the rate cuts. The new rates will also lead to a rise in international calls using inexpensive Skype Credit, helping Skype increase its market share in Korea. 

 “We have significantly lowered call rates to keep our existing customers who have used international call credit as well as to attract new customers while sharpening our competitiveness in the international calling market,” said Lee Jun-yeol, head of Communications Service at Daesung Skype.

 “In addition to online free calls between subscribers, we also provide a charged credit service with lowered rates and new calling plans by country, hoping that our customers will be able to enjoy the best service with the lowest charges,” Lee added. “Daesung Skype will work with Skype headquarters to expand our strategic product lineup in order to give Korean customers more satisfaction with international calls.”

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About Daesung Skype
Daesung Skype, which was established through a partnership between Daesung Group and Skype, has offered services to Korea since July 11, 2011. The company provides diversified and differentiated services such as free phone and video calls between subscribers, 

inexpensive products for local and overseas calls, premium group video calls, conference calls, chatting, text messages, 070 online phone numbers, voicemails, call transfers, and file and screen sharing. Daesung Skype also supports multiple platforms so that customers can use its services on various devices including PCs, mobile phones and tablets, and its super-broadband “SILK” code provides a higher quality of calls.