iBurst subscribers will soon be able to make telephone calls to cellphones and landlines, following the launch of the wireless broadband provider`s iCall, a voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service.
Speaking at the launch yesterday, iBurst product development head Antony McKechnie said the iCall service costs R50 per month (including VAT) and the cost of a prepaid airtime voucher. Prepaid vouchers are available in R100 and R200 denominations and can be purchased online, he said.
iCall works with any VOIP hardware device or phone, McKechnie noted. However, subscribers have the option to purchase a Webfone, from iBurst, at R2 880. This cost includes VAT and an Omni antenna.
The Webfone, which is available directly from iBurst, requires no separate computer to make VOIP calls, he added.
Cost savings
McKechnie said the iCall service will also allow users to save money on calls.
"Compared to using a traditional fixed-line phone, iCall subscribers can save 17% on calls to South African cellphones, 15% on national calls and more than 50% to any international destinations."
The iCall service also allows users free, unlimited on-network calls, as well as a fax2email service, he said. This is ideal for inter-branch communication, as an organisation will only pay for the bandwidth usage, he said.
The iBurst/Webfone offering is aimed at residential users in new developments, where there is no fixed-line telecoms infrastructure yet, he said.
The service is also ideal for small business owners who don`t want to wait for a Telkom line, and temporary offices set up at trade events and construction sites, McKechnie added.
iBurst marketing manager Callia Doucas says iBurst is doing a soft launch, with a greater push for the service aimed for February 2008. By then, interconnection agreements with telecoms providers will be finalised, she explained.
Impact on market
MyADSL founder Rudolph Muller and World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck have previously noted that the launch of the iCall and Webfone offering would be good for the SA market.
Muller said the VOIP offering could stimulate competition in the local voice market, if more communications providers were to offer it. MWeb and Vox Telecom already provide VOIP services.
"Providers can interconnect with each other at a cheaper rate, making it preferable for customers to subscribe with them than use Telkom voice services," he said.
iBurst is still focused on setting up interconnection agreements with the telecoms providers, and will look at interconnecting with VOIP providers later, McKechnie said.
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