I've been told that the number eight is considered "good luck" among the Chinese. And why not? After all, 3, the mobile operator, has announced that its X-Series mobile-broadband package has now reached Ireland. Making it country number eight where the X-Series is available. The roll-out started in the UK last December, and has since made a mark in Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Australia and Hong Kong.

To Ireland-based Skype users, this has a very real consequence. The X-Series brings unlimited free Skype-to-Skype conversations and some of life‘s other necessities to their very pockets. And that's pretty cool.

If this all sounds like a load of mumbojumbo, here's some more background. The X-series is a flat-rate mobile-broadband package, replicating the established “all you can eat” home broadband pricing model. X-series customers pay a monthly fee for access to a suite of internet services on their mobiles. As Skype's nicely tucked into that suite, users make unlimited internet calls with other Skype users while on the move.