Facebook Gives Free Voice Calls a Trial Run in Canada

An anonymous reader writes with this nice news (for Canadians) snipped from CBC: "Facebook has chosen Canadian users to be guinea pigs for a new mobile feature to make free phone calls. Facebook's new Messenger app for Apple mobile devices enables voice-over-Internet protocol phone calls, which use data instead of eating into the minutes in a mobile plan."

Comments

Lack of direction?

[dreamchaser]

Does Facebook even have any sense of direction towards monetizing their platform? They seem to keep grasping at straws, though in this case I'm not sure where they see revenue coming from. I certainly wouldn't use a VoIP service provided by them.

Re:Lack of direction?

[Zontar The Mindless]

I use my Android phone+wifi+SkypeOut to ring my folks' landline phones in the States all the time (I live in Sweden), and it works great. Skype video is not as good as when using my laptop with a wired connection, but it does work.

The tech is not the problem. The problems are twofold:

1. That space is already well populated (e.g. Skype).

2. US users in particular are going to get gouged deeply if they try to use mobile data to save on POTS/LDD charges.

Also, I understand that some major US providers block Skype, which means they'll probably block this as well.

Re:Lack of direction?

[Zemran]

I think that Facebook is like the modern day version of AOL. It has a collection of things in one place for those that are not computer literate to use easily. It does nothing well but it tries to do everything. My son wants to chat with me on FB and I tell him, switch to Skype but he finds FB easier??? I cannot understand this but I see it a lot (please, I am not saying Skype is the best, just better than FB). People now use FB instead of email but it only works with FB users (like AOL) and they can chat with other FB users on their chat (like AOL used to do) and now they can talk to other FB users... so they are scared to leave FB as it means they can no longer chat with their friends... It is just a clever lock in that people will tire of just like with AOL.

Re:Lack of direction?

[realityimpaired]

2. US users in particular are going to get gouged deeply if they try to use mobile data to save on POTS/LDD charges.

That's going to happen in Canada, too. Most people who have a cell phone with enough data where this would actually be feasible to use it as a cell phone (instead of on wifi) have enough local minutes that it wouldn't really serve any point at all. My own plan, for example, has effectively unlimited minutes because it's unmetered from 5pm-8am and I rarely, if ever, use it while I'm at work.

You *might* be able to use it to save on domestic long distance because the 3 major carriers don't include domestic long distance in their plans, but all of the fight brands and startups do so it's of limited use there, and on international long distance (assuming they'll let you terminate a call internationally for free), but how many people make international calls on their cell phone?

Re:Lack of direction?

[dos4who]

What they will get out of this is your biometric voice samples. Right now, if the go'vt wants to track (spy on) you and you don't have a sample already in their database, they have to go through various sources to see who you are. ie. Pix from Facebook and voice samples from either Google (voice) or Apple (Siri). This way, FB can offer up themselves as a one-stop-shop for any 3-letter homeland-security agency wanting to track you via video (pictures to run against video tracking) or audio (a verified voice sample to run against echelon/omnivore/etc).

Re:Lack of direction?

[aurispector]

Facebook could offer blowjobs and it wouldn't make me want to use it more. Their entire purpose it to get you to disgorge the most intimate details of your life to...a giant corporation. Zuck can take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

Re:Lack of direction?

[Zontar The Mindless]

... but how many people make international calls on their cell phone?

Come to Europe, and you'll find lots of people who do. Many of them don't even have landlines.

(Yes, I am one of these.)

That'll be great

[Anonymous Coward]

Data plans are just so mch cheaper than minutes.

Re:That'll be great

[rtb61]

Point of fact, some service providers provide 'FREE' access to certain social platforms, Facebook amongst them, so yes, this could be quite a lot cheaper. Of course, wait up people, this is bloody Facebook we are talking privacy invasive psychopaths extraordinaire, seriously do you want them listening and recording your phone calls and using computers to analyse the content for future the manipulation of you and your callers.

Re:That'll be great

[Mashiki]

You jest, but for a lot of people, data is a lot cheaper than voice minutes.

Where is this mystical plan in Canada? Last I looked, and that was recently it didn't matter what plan it was. At all levels the screw over level was so high, that you were getting so badly fucked that you might as well go looking for a pay phone(we still have those in Canada).

Re:That'll be great

[tlhIngan]

You jest, but for a lot of people, data is a lot cheaper than voice minutes. I chose my current low end plan ($20/month) has only a relatively small number of minutes (since I'm not a heavy phone user) but 1.5 GB of data per month. 1.5 GB is LOT of VoIP time. I make Skype or Facetime voice calls from my phone far more often than I make actual phone network calls.

This is Canada. Where $50 gets you a 2GB/month plan unless you buy your phone when the next iPhone is released, where carriers will offer you 3GB for $50. $1/MB afterwards-ish (depending - sometimes you can get lucky and get it $1/10MB or a whopping $1/100MB (==$10/GB - SI units)).

Heck, sometimes there are promos, like $50/month for unlimited North America calling, unlimited texting, and 1GB of data.

Go with the AWS carriers (one of the reasons why the government was forced to take down their wireless carrier comparison tool - the big guys complained because the AWS guys were ALWAYS cheaper no matter what you tried), and it's not too bad. $35/month for unlimited local calls, unlimited Canada text and unlimited data. Make ir $45 and you get unlimited North American calling and global text and unlimited data. Hell, one of them is having it at half-price - $22.50 for all that.

Of course, the problem is coverage is crap... once you step out, you have to pay roaming. It's getting better, but there are still issues. (Though they ask for you to prepay, so you NEVER get startled with a $1K bill - it just stops working when the prepaid amount runs out - definitely plus).

Re:First

[Zontar The Mindless]

Amongst people posting to this thread using dialup, yes.