Skype has a new deal for American and Canadian subscribers: unlimited calling to landlines in a country of choice for $5.95 per month.

Say you have a cousin in Ireland or a friend in New Zealand. You plunk down $5.95 per month for Skype's Unlimited Country subscriptions to reach them on their landlines.

And you can use your iPhone or iPod touch to make these calls, too. More on that in a moment.

The low-cost calling is available in more than 40 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and United Kingdom.

"In a tough economy, everyone is looking for more ways to save. With the launch of Skype's Unlimited Country subscriptions, we now offer very simple, cost effective one country calling options," said Don Albert, GM and vice president of Skype Americas. "Our users can make calls internationally to virtually any regular phone any time of day, without a long-term contract, hidden fees and other restrictions."

The Unlimited Country subscriptions come with other perks too, including voicemail and up to 50 percent off an online number, where available. Users with a subscription can also use other features such as call forwarding, conference calling and Skype To Go (which enables subscribers to make low-cost international calls from mobiles and landline phones). This is on top of free Skype-to-Skype calls, video calls, chat, conference calling and send files,

Subscriptions for domestic calling to landlines and mobiles within U.S. and Canada have already been available for $2.95 per month. For individuals who are making calls to many countries, Skype offers an Unlimited World subscription, which now includes calls to over 42 countries, instead of 36 countries. A purchase of any 12-month subscription includes a discount of 25 percent ff until May 6.

Also, iPhone and iPod touch users who have downloaded the new Skype for iPhone can make calls to these numbers from Wi-Fi hotspots.

And that's lots of you. Since the Skype for iPhone application was launched on March 31, it has been the No. 1 downloaded free iPhone application in more than 40 markets, with downloads surpassing the 2 million mark in fewer than 10 days.