Monday, October 06, 2008
Free cell phone calls
With Fring installed, you can make free voice calls or send instant messages to registered users of Skype, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, and networks based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) from your mobile phone. If your phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network, then the call is absolutely free. If no Wi-Fi signal is available, you can connect to a 3G network and pay only for the Internet access, which these days is about P10 for 30 minutes—which is cheaper than the cost of a typical GSM phone call.
Posted by Chin on 10/06 at 06:40 PM
Telecommunications • VoIP • Wireless Connectivity • (13) Comments • Permalink
Telecommunications • VoIP • Wireless Connectivity • (13) Comments • Permalink
VER PEÑA has resigned as chairman of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), which oversees ICT development in the Philippines. His departure creates some uncertainty over the direction the agency and the industry will take.
THE last time I made an Internet “phone call” from a PC was years ago on a slow connection. Through lags, echoes and static, my brother’s voice streamed all the way from Toronto over the Internet into my PC speakers in Quezon City. I talked to him using a crappy karaoke microphone attached to my PC’s sound card. I don’t recall what we talked about, except that we must have said, “Can you hear me?” and “Are you still there?” a number of times. Despite the rough edges, it was an important proof of concept for us that voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) could actually work.
From a windy perch in the Nipa Hut restaurant overlooking the Valle Verde residential subdivisions in Pasig City, some engineers are hunched over their notebook PCs. It’s an unlikely place for a revolution to start, but there’s an insurgent quality about what’s going on. Some day, these folks might revolutionize the telecommunications business.
“On the basis of both law and sound public policy, VoIP is a value-added service.” This proclamation in the National Telecommunications Commission’s latest memo on voice over Internet Protocol is a landmark policy statement that opens the door to competition and innovation in new communications services. It will also mean cheaper long-distance calls for everyone.
