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Google Plans Free VoIP In the UK

Posted by timothy on from the thinking-ahead dept.

jarich writes "According to this news article, Google may be preparing to offer free Voice Over IP telephone service in the UK. This sounds related to a previous Slashdot article about Google starting to buy dark fiber. So what are they planning? A free service like Skype (computer to computer only) or more along the lines of Lingo or Vonage?"

6 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. Skype is not computer to computer only by Nermal6693 · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can also call a regular phone with Skype. It's not free, but you can do it.

    1. Re:Skype is not computer to computer only by arivanov · · Score: 4, Informative

      Two dedicated VOIP operators - Gossip Telecom and one more which specializes in businesses and offers IP Centrex style solutions (fully outsourced VOIP PBX). These are dependant on your link so your mileage is likely to vary.
      Also at least some ISPs have started offering VOIP as an addon at a minimal cost. Once again, mileage will vary except possibly Nildram. Speaking out of experience (done some measurements on their network and have a non-UK VOIP phone on it): they have nearly 0% packet loss (around 0.01% which is the loss from DSL) and under 3ms jitter. Even the shitties VOIP implementation just works. Of course this does not come out of the blue. They charge you 25 monthly for a static IP with the relevant services attached while the industry average is around 23.

      --
      Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
      http://www.sigsegv.cx/
  2. fixed link by Devil's+BSD · · Score: 5, Informative

    Someone left a bracket on there, so...
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1454225, 00.html

    --
    I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
  3. Re:Possible Google Plan... by hyu · · Score: 2, Informative

    I think it would be interesting to have ads while a call is being connected (i.e. ringing). It seems like they could pipe audio ads down the wire during the inevitable pause while the system tries to track down a cell phone, or the long distance call is being routed...

    There's already a few places that have services like that in place. In Ottawa, Canada, there's a service called CHUM Total Free Call. You dial a number, connect to their server, and they play an ad for you. At the end of the ad, you're given a dialtone and told to enter the phone number you wish to call. The benefit is that you can call anyone within the local area code at no cost. It's particularly beneficial in the rural areas that have some strange local and long distance zones.

    I'm not sure how well they're doing, though, since some of the ads made very little sense. There was one for an ISP that provided service for a monthly fee of $2.95 CAD. I can't imagine they were paying very much for the airtime given that price. However, with Google's repetoire of sponsors, they could probably do quite well for themselves.

  4. Re:Thinking really hard here by 1u3hr · · Score: 4, Informative
    hey're going to voice scan your calls and every 5 minutes there will be an interruption by a commercial.

    In TFA "a free telephone service that links users via a broadband internet connection using a headset and home computer." So they would surely display ads while you're making the call. Even conceivably targetted from speech recognition, but that's a long shot and likely to spook people.

  5. Re:What Skype is missing though... Skype IN by blake182 · · Score: 5, Informative
    There was an interview on Engadget last November with Skype co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennström:

    What is SkypeIn and what are the plans for it?

    SkypeIn will allow phone calls from the traditional phone network in to Skype. We don't have a specific launch date yet, but hope to offer it sometime this winter.