Shifting from the old way of doing things can be difficult even if the new way is better. One example of this is how calling around the world seems to be stuck between the modern age and the 50s. Making audio calls to individuals can be very obnoxious if they are not on the platform you are using. In addition, making calls to the old land lines or cell phones can be oddly expensive.
Skype has the power to make calls between users on the Skype platform and make calls to traditional phones. However, anyone who is not a subscriber to Skype has to pay per minute to make calls to a non-Skype number. This can be a major barrier to user adoption, because users can still easily revert back to the traditional way of calling.
Microsoft is offering a limited time offer to Skype users in India to make free calls to the US and Canada. Users can make calls to mobile and land lines for free on their existing Skype apps. It is unclear if this is a move to get users to test the service or if Microsoft is trying to test their networks for some future plans. Any way, between December 16th and March 1st, users can make free calls, so get calling while you can!