IDG News Service's Nancy Gohring reports that Skype has announced its first mobile VoIP service in collaboration with mobile operator 3 Group. The service, part of 3's impressive X-Series multimedia offering, will launch in the UK on December 1st. Skype access will be available only on the Nokia N73.

"3 Group customers will be able to make free Skype calls to other 3 Group Skype users and to PC-based Skype users around the world," Gohring writes. "Customers must subscribe to one of 3 Group's new monthly data plans to use the service."

"It's now possible for the 136 million Skype users to break from their PCs and use Skype wherever they are," says Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom.

The company says the plans will include unlimited usage, essentially turning the mobile phone into a data-only device on which voice is one of many available applications -- this is, without a doubt, the future of mobile access.

3's X-Series press release is here.