Cisco makes a bid for Skype

According to a report by TechCrunch in the US, Cisco has made an offer to acquire Skype before the company completes its IPO process.

The site names “one of our more reliable sources” as its mole but so far both Skype and Cisco have refused to comment on any possible deal.

Skype is the hugely popular service that allows its users to make free internet telephone and video calls.

Cisco is a market leader of internet networking hardware.

Google recently launched Google Talk for its Gmail users, which is a very similar service that Skype offers. The race is on for free internet chat.