Skype, a worldwide Internet-based voice and video calling service Microsoft acquired last year for $8.5 billion, said Tuesday the changes to its peer-to-peer infrastructure were done to improve the quality of service.

What it did was move "supernodes" into datacenters, Skype said. act as directories that find the right recipient for calls. In the past, a user's computer that was capable of acting as a directory was upgraded from a node to a supernode. A node is the generic term for computers on a network.

Skype has decided that having supernodes running on dedicated servers would improve its service and make it more reliable. In 2010, Skype when an update to its client software caused many of its supernodes to go offline.

Other than changing the location of supernodes, Skype said the systems have the same function as before, essentially denying reports that say the changes were made .