Federal Authorities Approves Skype's Acqusition By Mircosoft

Reuters is reporting that government regulators have given Microsoft's proposed acquisition of VoIP^(INFO)provider Skype the green light. The purchase will provide Microsoft with an additional foothold in the mobile space, as well as tying the company to the more than 100 million Skype subscribers and users worldwide that make use of the service each month.

While Microsoft has not indicated what its plans for Skype are at this time, it would seem logical for the company to integrate Skype's voice and video calling and chat facilities with the Microsoft's Bing services, which include search and mapping.

What we hope most to see come out of the deal, however, is tight integration of Skype's low-cost international and domestic calling into Microsoft's Windows Phone platform.

Microsoft is paying $8.5 billion for Skype, making it the company's largest purchase ever.