Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

As of January 1, the free phone service has been providing will cost $30 annually:

Skype, the Internet calling service owned by eBay, said Tuesday that as of Jan. 1 it would begin charging $30 a year for unlimited calls to landline and mobile phones within the United States and Canada. Those calls had been free since last spring.

The new annual fee for unlimited calling, while still nominal compared with other Internet calling plans, is part of a broader strategy by eBay to expand Skype’s product offerings and revenue.

Now that you're hooked on the free service, are you willing to pony up the cash? Since I use SkypeOut before it was free, I probably will. I would expect that any SkypeOut credit still remaining could be applied to that cost.

Or is this a good time to evaluate other services that are coming along?