Netline launches VoIP mobile and fixed line phone services
Chilean VoIP company Netline Telecomunicaciones has launched VoIP mobile and fixed line phone services for the mass market.
Netline general manager Joel Bendersky told the reporters that the company aims for 30,000 clients by October 2007 and 500,000 to 1 million in five years. The mobile phone uses Wi-Fi signals to connect to other fixed line and mobile units. Its release starts a three month pilot program in Chile. The service could eventually be launched in other Latin American countries and the US.
This service holds advantages over internet VoIP carriers such as Skype because it can be used to make emergency calls, comes in a smaller package and Netline is fully licensed as a local carrier.
The company offers pre-paid services payable through the internet in either monthly packages or per minute. The phone can also be used to make long distance calls.The company also unveiled a fixed line phone that connects directly to a broadband cable, something that it believes could appeal to SMEs as well as residential customers.
Bendersky said that the phone was aimed primarily at customers interested in cost savings more than increased mobility, adding that coverage was limited.
Source: Cellular news