End nears for internet calling pioneer Skype as Microsoft plans shutdown

End nears for internet calling pioneer Skype as Microsoft plans shutdown

Steve Ballmer was Microsoft’s CEO when the company bought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion. (Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images)

One of the most widely used online calling services will soon reach its end after a 21-year run.

Microsoft said Friday that it will shut down Skype in early May, with users encouraged to move to the Teams app. The company is consolidating its video-connection applications because Teams has been growing quickly and has a wider suite of capabilities than Skype, Microsoft executive Jeff Teper said.

Users will soon be able to log into Teams using their Skype credentials, according to the blog post. The company said Skype contacts and chat histories will migrate to Teams, and people also can export their Skype data.

Skype was founded in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2003. Using technology now known as VoIP, the service quickly became popular for Skype-to-Skype calls that bypass traditional phone companies — a feature that made it especially popular for cross-border communication as users avoided expensive international calling rates.