Skype and very confused?

Wi-Fi Skype Phone Korea?

• So I am moving to Korea for the next few months and my relatives have told me signing up for a cell phone plan is expensive, and prepaid phones are not worth the money. I could possibly try to buy a Verizon prepaid phone that runs on an UMTS network to work in Korea, but at $1.99 a minute, it's not really worth it. So I was thinking about signing up for Skype, but I am not too sure on how it works. From what I understand, Skype either can work through my broadband connection in which I would purchase a special Skype phone, or an adapter which hooks a normal land line home phone to the adapter. Also Skype can work through Skype Wi-Fi phones at any Wi-Fi hot spot (I guess they are all over Seoul, so it would be close to having normal cell phone coverage). So would I get an actual telephone number for people to call me on? And if I got the number in the United States, would my American friends and family members be able to call me for free, as if calling my cell phone? And also, I read something about calls only being free for the receiver if they have a Skype phone. I want to call my family in the U.S. from Seoul on my Skype Wi-Fi phone, and them not to be charged any non-normal fees. So what will I be charged a month? The Skype website listed I would be charged $5.99 a month for the Unlimited Country program (Unlimited calls to a single country, i.e. the U.S. both mobile and land line), but also the following other fees; $18.00 to "Receive calls from phones and mobiles with an online number" $6.00 to "Send and receive voicemails" And then all sorts of other fees for the following; "Transfer calls to phones and mobiles", "Forward calls to phones", "Skype To Go number", "Call phones and mobiles".... I am so confused on what I will be charged each month and for what phone calls and from who and from where to where?!? Also what if I wanted to call my family members in Korea? What about those charges? And if they call me, will they just be charged the international rate for calling an American, or an additional fee for calling a Skype number? And my last question, what is the best portable Skype Wi-Fi phone with the best phone call quality? Please I need help, and thank you so much for any help possible~!~

• Answer:

  Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and, in some countries, to free-of-charge numbers, are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing. Skype does not provide the ability to call emergency numbers such as 911 in the United States and Canada, 000 in Australia, 112 in Europe, or 999 in the UK. The FCC has ruled that, for the purposes of section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, Skype is not an "interconnected VoIP provider". As a result, the U.S. National Emergency Number Association recommends that all VoIP users have an analog line available as a backup. There have been complaints about Skype's poor customer support. As of September 2009, Skype does not provide any official means to contact customer support, apart from indirect assistance through its web portal only and contact email addresses. Skype is also unable to update user billing information. Skype credit expires 180 days after the last charged call . Users are notified via email before balances are removed, but some software issues have resulted in some users not receiving notification. The Skype application itself has no mechanism to indicate that the listed balance will expire soon. Furthermore, Skype has been criticized for its policy that denies users the right to know release dates. n