[PHNOM PENH POST]
INTERNET service provider Online is aiming to compete in the voice call
market with its latest product, TalkMobile, a Skype-like application for
handsets.
Customers buy US$2 a month in credit to use the
internet-based TalkMobile, and then pay prices ranging from about 6
cents a minute for local calls to nothing for unlimited calls to other
users of the TalkMobile application.
Online’s new service offers
consumers an additional option for making voice calls, a market that is
presently dominated by the Kingdom’s mobile service providers, said
Chief Executive Officer Bill Merchent.
“We’re hoping we’ll be real competitive with them,” he said yesterday.
Users
download the TalkMobile application to their phones – many versions of
Apple’s iOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Google’s Android operating
systems are compatible – and require an internet connection to make
calls.
Customers are not required to connect via Online to use
the application, and may connect through rival ISPs and mobile
companies. This allows for greater nationwide coverage, Merchent said.
Online
also partnered with Refresh Mobile, which offers an electronic top-up
service that spans 7,000 dealers in 19 provinces, to reach potential
customers outside major cities like Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and
Battambang.
Merchent’s strategy also includes attracting
international callers by offering prices as little as 1 cent a minute to
TalkMobile users.
While Online will compete with mobile
operators for voice revenues, Merchent said these companies still make
money when TalkMobile customers call their networks, as Online must pay a
connection fee.
Officials at mobile operator Hello said Online’s
new offering would introduce greater competition to the
voice-over-Internet Protocol market, though company officials said they
doubted consumers would choose TalkMobile over other offerings.
Hello
Marketing Director Rozy Laxana cited the inconvenience of having to
download a separate application and buy separate top-ups to make calls
as obstacles for customers. Also, she questioned the quality of the
calls made over TalkMobile.
“This TalkMobile service is targeted
to consumers wanting to make long calls at an acceptable economy
quality of service,” she claimed. “In contrast, Hello is offering its
customers premium quality, hence a slight premium in call charges for a
more convenient and better quality service product.”
She said
global telecom trends pointed to the release of products like
TalkMobile, and so Hello arranged VoIP packages to compete with them.
Still,
Laxana saw consumers’ need for internet service in order to make calls
over TalkMobile as a potential boon for the mobile industry. “Mobile
network operators such as Hello can benefit from a higher take-up of
data plans to activate the TalkMobile service,” she said.
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