Gmail shares Christmas cheer with free calling

Extends free domestic calling in the U.S. and Canada and super cheap international calls

We've come a long way from making international calls costing $2.43 a minute. That was circa 1970, when most of today's first movers in tech were barely born, if even a thought. Even in 1980, international calls were still well over $1.

Today, calls are down to pennies a minute. And, for domestic calls, they remain free... on Google's Gmail service.

Google announced it's extending its service to offer free domestic calling via Gmail for one more year. Google had planned to start charging at the end of this year, but announced this week the extension of free calling within U.S. and Canada.

Of course, even though international calls still cost something, the rates are pretty low, even compared to some other rates out there, like AT&T's international call app.

For China, Google's calls are 2 cents a minute, vs 4 cents on AT&T's app. And to France,  a call using Google Vocie costs 10 cents a minute vs. 21 cents using AT&T when calling from a landline to a mobile phone. 

What are you waiting for? Go give grandma a call.