Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype is expected to be complete by October.

Tony Bates, Skype’s CEO, revealed on Friday that an October time frame is realistic for the deal to be complete. “We already got through the US side of it,” Bates said at a technology conference in Aspen, Colorado on Friday, according to the AFP news agency. “We still have Europe so it’s anyone’s guess, but I would say we’ve got a couple of months more here,” he said. “Maybe sort of an October time frame would be my guess.”

The software giant announced its intentions to purchase Skype in May. Microsoft’s deal is valued at $8.5 billion cash and will see Skype CEO Tony Bates assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division. Bates will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Microsoft says Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stamped its approval on the deal last month. The approval was announced in a list of deals that is issued several times a week. Microsoft is now waiting on European Commission approval before it can part with $8.5 billion for its purchase of Skype. Bates also confirmed that Microsoft will not alter its branding. Microsoft is getting “one of the greatest brands in the consumer Internet space,” he said. “It is a verb. People talk about it in that way. They say Skype me.” Bates reassured Skype users that nothing will change, “you can expect strong commitment to the brand,” he added.

Skype currently has 170 million connected users and saw over 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations in 2010 alone. Microsoft’s promise for Windows Phone, Xbox and Kinect Skype integration confirms that the company will look to use Skype broadly across its products. Skype was originally founded in 2003 and acquired by eBay in September 2005. An investment group led by Silver Lake acquired Skype in 2009. Microsoft refused to provide any comment on Friday regarding the FTC approval