Word is today that the iPhone will be playing host to a Skype app in the very near future. Om Malik ran a story this morning that indicates Skype could be announcing an iPhone app as soon as next Wednesday:

A tipster — a very reliable one — tells me that Skype is almost ready to launch that iPhone version, perhaps as soon as next week. CTIA Wireless, a large mobile industry trade event, kicks off in Las Vegas next Wednesday, so perhaps the announcement will be made there. I am working on getting more details, as well as screenshots of the service.

We’re currently working on independent confirmation, but wouldn’t find the revelation to be altogether surprising – at least not that they’re trying for an app.  A quick perusal through the Skype forums shows a thread that was started last summer, but continues to be active as recent as yesterday with users clamoring for an iPhone app.

We’re not likely to get an on the record confirmation, given that this looks like it’ll be a CTIA Wireless official announcement, but given the cagey answers on the public forums, it sounds like something has been in the works for a while:

Dimitris Apostolou: “[C]annot confirm anything All I can say is that, for the time being, you can use Skype on the iPhone by using the following 3rd party solutions.

http://www.fring.com/
http://www.shapeservices.com/en/products/d…platform=iphone

More on this story as it develops. Keep an eye on this post and the comments feed, where undoubtedly new information will show up soon.