By Sylvia Carr, 19 January 2006 11:55
NEWS
Retail giant Tesco has launched a new voice over IP service aimed at the mass market, which allows customers to place phone calls over the internet via their PC.
The goal is to make it easy enough for anyone - even those who've never heard of VoIP - to use.
Alex Freudmann, commercial manager at Tesco Telecom, told silicon.com: "Customers don't care how they make calls. They're looking for low tariffs and a simple service."
The Tesco Telecom service requires customers buy a £19.97 set-up package which includes a handset and software installation CD. The handset is plugged into the USB port of a PC, and works like a normal phone, allowing customer to dial numbers on the keypad and answer incoming calls.
The package comes with £5 worth of calls, free voicemail and one incoming phone number, at which the customer can be reached by others.
Calls will be charged on a pay-as-you-go basis and can be topped up like a mobile phone service. Freudmann said Tesco's internet phone shares the "same principles and good values" as Tesco's mobile offering.
Tesco Telecoms' partner to deliver the service is Freshtel, an Australian internet phone company.
Talking to other Tesco internet phone users will be free, while it's 2p per minute to call landlines across the globe or international mobile phones, and 10p per minute to call UK mobiles.
The pricing compares to the popular VoIP app Skype, which charges similar per-minute rates and also charges for an incoming phone number (10 for 3 months, 30 for a year) or voicemail (5 for 3 months, 15 for a year). USB handsets are available for Skype but are sold separately.
The VoIP offering will be available in 15 Tesco stores this week and will be rolled out in the remaining shops over the next two months.
Along with Skype, Tesco's competitors in the VoIP space include Vonage, which offers an internet phone service in the UK that requires the installation of a hardware router.
Comments
There are 8 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
So you have to pay BT for the landline to get broadband, pay for the broadband (and sometimes extra for them to provide calls) and then another service on top of this? How many add on services will people be prepared to pay for? Particularly when the service allows you to call mobiles abroad for 8p p/m LESS than UK mobiles???
2. Duncan
This is fantastic news, but I'm bored of voice (over IP) now, I want video , I want it to interoperate with other services and I want it to work on my iMac.
But why, oh why, isn't anyone delivering their service on an IP enabled set top box, delivering a ready made package, plug in and play. This makes so much sense it hurts!!
3. Paul Kuczora
Not sure why they give you an incoming phone number (UK based I assume) when you need a land-line for the broadband connection - unless of course they will be getting a percentage of the revenue from incoming calls to that number.
Plus you are still tied to the PC to make calls via the USB handset.
My recommendation would be to use Skype plus something like ActionTec's Internet Phone Wizard with the base-station of your cordless phone plugged into it.
That way I get merged land-line and Internet calls (with the ability to switch between them, put calls on hold etc) from anywhere in the house.
4. Simon
The next question has to be - how long until we can have a broadband-only line (ie no telephony service, just ADSL or SDSL) ? Without the voice element, slightly improved data rates and/or range should be possible by extending the DSL signal down in freqency.
5. Peter Brunnen
All very nice I'm sure but with SKYPE you can get a gadget (Break Free - Easy Blue) from www.yamamoto.co.uk, for example, which plugs into Your PC and your home phone system so you do not have to be at the computer to make cheap/free internet calls. I.E. I can be in my shed down the bottom of the garden and still make and receive calls via the SKYPE system. Beats being tied to the computer to make calls! Oh and by the way it's great being able to chat to my relatives in Australia for free :)
6. Peter Brunnen
In response to Duncan of "This is fantastic news", perhaps he and other ought to know that SKYPE's latest version INCLUDES video/web cam link up. AND it works great :)
7. Peter Brunnen
ooooops! That should have been http://www.yamamoto-group.co.uk. Apologies to yamamoto.co.uk :(
8. Len Over
Well if you want gneuine real phone calls and numbers, then go to www.sipgate.co.uk and here have a genuine local area coded number.
You can call all other sipgate users and many other internet services all free. Calls are cheaper than Tesco, and theres no payment at all other than calls.
You make calls through your PC, and they are as clear as any normal landline. You can also buy various bits of inexpensive equipment to be able to use normal land line telephones with out the use of a PC.
You don't need a phone line, if you use one of the 21st century firms like Telewest or NTL, you get a coaxial cable installed with a much more reliable broadband circuit.
Tesco are only rebranding some other firms service, just like their banking services, insurance, mobile phones etc. etc .etc.