Skype, the company Microsoft has agreed to buy for $8.5 billion, is reportedly experiencing problems--again.
Skype acknowledged in a tweet posted Tuesday morning (ET), "A small number of you may have problems signing in to Skype. We’re investigating the cause, and hope to have more details to share soon."
Users all around the world, including Spain, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Belarus, Croatia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Japan, have reported issues connecting to the service, according to Engadget.
We've been unable to connect to the service ourselves here in the US on Mac OS X, and Engadget similarly notes, "Our own Skype clients are currently unable to move past the "Connecting..." status note, both on Mac OS X and Windows 7."
This is Skype's third noteworthy outage since the beginning of the year and its second in less than a month.
One user writes to us, "From Brussles, Belgium: users cannot log in to the Skype website as well, in addition to the Skype application itself."
Let us know in the comments below or by clicking "Send a Tip" if you're having problems with Skype as well. We've contacted Skype for comment.
UPDATE: A spokesperson directed us to the Heartbeat Skype blog, which includes the following update:
A configuration problem has meant that some of you have been disconnected from Skype.
We've identified the cause of the problem, and have begun to address it. If you've been affected, you should start to see improvement in the next hour or so. You shouldn't need to manually sign back in to Skype - it should reconnect automatically when it's able to do so.
We apologise for the disruption to your conversations.
HuffPostTech commenters say that Skype is inaccessible Canada, Australia, South Africa, the US, and South Korea.
Krimtronic adds, "Based on the Twitter response, I'd like to know what Skype considers a 'small number.'"--UPDATE II: Another statement from Skype:
We are continuing to address today's problems, and are seeing indications that the situation is improving.
If you were disconnected from Skype earlier, you shouldn't need to manually sign back in to Skype - it should reconnect automatically when it's able to do so.
We apologise for the disruption to your conversations.