Google could sell calling-minutes to customers, who would pay for the ability to make cheap calls over the Internet.

FORBES

Basically, by offering dirt-cheap calls via mobile devices, Microsoft may have an edge as it tries to push its Windows Phone 7 operating system.

FORBES: Microsoft + Skype: A Good Day for Entrepreneurs

Skype's PR peeps are blasting out press releases about how SkypeOut (which lets you use Skype's VoIP software to make cheap calls to the regular phone lines) has finally reached one million users, but we're way more interested in the more stealthy news that they're testing a new beta which supports SkypeIn, which lets people with regular phone lines call you.

ENGADGET: SkypeIn in beta

While Skype was initially popular with techies, it increasingly worked its way into the mainstream by offering free or cheap phone calls which were especially appealing to international callers.

WSJ: Microsoft Near Deal to Buy Skype for Nearly $8 Billion

Richard Moroney, editor of Upside newsletter, which focuses on small- and mid-cap stocks, says that Aeropostale is cheap, and he calls it a "best buy" in an e-mail hotline from Friday, Dec. 4.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Such services, which make possible very cheap (or even free) calls by routing part or all of each call over the internet, have forced traditional telecoms firms to cut their prices.

ECONOMIST: Texting: Hot to trot | The

Tariffs for using utilities and the infrastructure are extremely low: local calls are usually free, gas prices artificially cheap and wholesale electricity costs about a tenth of the average European level.

ECONOMIST: Russia��s infrastructure

That pushes Deal or No Deal to Fridays, where it should serve as a strong lead-in for Friday Night Lights, a show Silverman calls "efficient" (that's Hollywood speak for cheap).

FORBES: Silverman Sends A Message

One of the reasons Internet use has grown so rapidly is because it is cheap - and it is cheap mainly because, in most cities around the world, there is no per-minute charge for calls to local Internet service providers.

CNN: With a Little Help From a Foe