True to start online phoning service
True Internet, a unit of True Corp Plc, will kick off its low-cost Internet calling service on July 20, aiming to sign up 100,000 subscribers this year and doubling that figure next year.
"The True Net Talk service is expected to generate over Bt100 million of revenue this year. We've set aside a budget of Bt100 million for service development, of which Bt40 million has already been spent," True executive Noppadol Dej-udom said yesterday at a press conference to unveil the service. Dial-up and broadband Internet customers of any Internet service provider can place calls to any of 200 destinations by paying a monthly fee. True Net Talk allows calling from PC to PC and PC to phones. The PC-to-phone service costs Bt199 per month for subscribers to True Internet's broadband Internet service and post-paid mobile phone users of True Move. For others, the monthly fee is Bt299. Making an overseas call to any regular telephone number costs Bt3 per minute but the cost of calling overseas mobile phones ranges from Bt3 per minute to the maximum of Bt18 per minute. The rates apply at any time of the day. For domestic calls, connecting to True telephones and True Move mobile phones costs Bt2 per call between 7am-7pm and Bt0.25 per minute outside that period. Contacting other fixed and cellular networks costs Bt2 per minute during 7am-7pm and Bt0.25 per minute outside that period. The call charges are deductible from the monthly fee. Excess charges will be billed. Calling to any other PC is free. The True Net Talk service uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a technology that allows cheap calls to anywhere from PC to PC or PC to fixed and mobile phones via the Internet. True will also introduce a prepaid card soon for accessing its True Net Talk service. Tithi Nantapat, True's director of home and consumer high-speed access, said the launch reflected True's "continuing efforts to create synergy" among its group businesses, which range from telephone and Internet access to cellular services. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) granted True Internet a licence to provide Internet access, including the calling service. Among the local VoIP providers is CAT Telecom Plc, which is also an NTC licensee.
Usanee Mongkolporn The Nation
|
