Last Tuesday, May 10, Microsoft Company announces its confirmation on the deal they currently have with Skype Global which is to buy the internet phone service Skype. The deal is said to to be at $8.5 billion cash as form of payment for the Skype acquisition. Skype was bought by the biggest internet auction site, Ebay, year 2006 for an amount of $2.6 billion.

Last August 2008, Skype announced their share flotation plans but did not pushed it through until the next year where the majority share of 70% was bought by an investment group led by Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowit, Joltid Limited and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $2 billion.

Skype’s global users reaches 170 million and in 2010, it has over 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations. We have known Skype as the first program that uses social networking platforms where connections among family members, relatives, friends and business colleagues through out the globe was made possible. Skype calls to other Skype users has no fee, but charges are collected for calls made to landline and mobile phones.

Skype’s acquisition is expected to bring an increase in the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications. A benefit that both consumers and enterprise users will share while new business and revenue opportunities awaits.

The Skype-Microsoft venture will extend the premium brand of Skype thus improving its networked platform and enhancing the existing portfolio of Microsoft in real time communications products and services.