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The free internet phone service is slowly coming back online after an outage that affected millions of people around the globe.

Skype said the fault was caused by a "software issue" on critical parts of its network.

People across the globe who have been affected by this have been emailing the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú with their experiences. Here is a selection.

I live in Pakistan and I am currently in Venezuela. Skype is the best way to communicate with my family all over the world. It is reliable and very efficient. I am sorry I can't get in touch with my family today via Skype. I hope it will be restored very soon to wish Season's Greeting to all our loved ones in at least five different countries. Myriam Santana, Caracas, Venezuela

In my company we use Skype to communicate and save on phone calls. Unfortunately since the beginning of the week Skype hasn't worked and we are using the phone a lot more. Hope the situation gets fixed very fast. Priscila, Sao Paulo, Brazil

I use the programme to connect with my relatives and friends abroad and I couldn't find another application that is equally efficient as Skype. Now that Christmas is close it would have been the best tool for me in extending my holiday greetings to my loved ones. This event has been very untimely. I just hope that by New Year all will be back as they were. Chris Ian Paulo Raquedan, Ilocos Sur, Philippines

I'm spending the winter in a motor home in southern France to get away from the freezing UK weather. I use Skype about three times a week to stay in touch will family back home. I have been unable to login since the evening of the 22 December. Hope it gets fixed in time for Christmas as I expect millions of others do too. Steve Rolph, Laurens, France

This has seriously disrupted my ability to stay in touch with business contacts, my office back in the UK and family. Simon Cassar, Malaga, Spain

I am on a working holiday in the Philippines and am trying to keep in touch with outsourced developers and designers in the UK for my new business which launches early next year. I am fretful of the cost of the phone calls I have had to make now that the Skype service is down. You soon forget how much you come to rely on technology - especially free technology. Jonathan Yates, Harrogate / Manila

My husband lives in london and Skype is our lifeline. Life does not seem to be normal now. I'm waiting for our our normal "skype life" to return. Shaily Tyagi Kamboj, New Delhi, India

My girlfriend of two years lives in Spain. Over the last 24 months we've had weekends cancelled due to BA strikes, ash cloud, air traffic controller strikes, and snow among other things. And now I can't even see her on my computer screen via Skype! Is someone trying to tell us something? Paul Collins, Farnham, Surrey

My wife and I live in Spain. We have a daughter and son in law in Wales a son in Brighton, and another son daughter in law and grandchildren in Florida. We live in the wilds with no landline, so Skype is our main means of communicating. Very disappointed not to be able to talk to them during this festive period. Terry Osborn, Yunquera, Malaga Province, Spain

My family are scattered all over the world - South Africa, Australia and England. Skype is really important to families like ours which rely on it for weekly communication. Currently it is totally unreliable - constantly cuts out both telephonically and with the video. We had all hoped to be in touch visually tomorrow and on the 25 but it seems this is not to be given the current ongoing problems. Marilyn Beattie, Belgium

Seems hard to grumble when it's a free service for most of us doesn't it? Thank you to Skype for the very excellent service they provide for 363 days of the year. Mildly ironic it's offline on the day I need to call a plumber to mend a burst pipe. Jane, Skipton, UK