Yahoo users will benefit from a brand new partnership with Jajah, the global communications company, which will offer its voice services to Yahoo Messenger users in over 200 countries (there are 97 million Yahoo Messenger users in the United States alone, comScore reported in February 2008).

The “Phone In” and “Phone Out” service will offer low-cost PC-to-phone and phone-to-PC voice calls in Jajah Network by using Yahoo Messenger starting with the third quarter of this year.

The partnership has been described as a strategic move and a way of providing Yahoo Messenger users with a high-quality communications experience, offering them an instant Internet telephony network, and a merger between the old and the new (traditional and IP telephony).

Trevor Healy, Jajah CEO, said in a statement: “We are honored to be selected by Yahoo to meet their voice needs. Through this relationship, we have the opportunity to extend our innovative global calling services with an industry leader that can leverage the power of our platform and network.”

Yahoo Messenger Vice President Sabrina Ellis also said in a statement that the partnership will be an addition to the “first communication tools consumers see and use when they turn on their computers,” describing it as an essential move to offer customers what they need: “it is critical that our partner mirror our commitment to our users, and Jajah’s reliable VoIP network and proven customer- and carrier-friendly experience make it an ideal solution.”

Jajah will take over the provisions of the telephony infrastructure, payment processing, and customer care, the company unveiled on Tuesday.

One service begins, as another one dies… Yahoo unveiled earlier this year that the Yahoo Music Unlimited service would be replaced by Rhapsody, owned by RealNetworks, in a move that was considered unwise in the middle of the Microsoft unsolicited bid.