My t has been in another country for three years because of a family problem and we use skype to talk quite frequently. Usually we talk on the phone but sometimes i just need to SEE her. So whenever she is able to we get on skype. Its definitely better than nothing. We do get frustrating with the frequent dropped calls and have to keep calling each other back. But skype is a blessing because otherwise it would just be expensive telephone calls. So i am grateful we have it.