A new sector exists
formed by companies such as mig33, Truphone, EQO, fring,
MOBIVOX, iSkoot, Nimbuzz, cellity, JAJAH, Vyke, and
Rebtel.
These and many others have attracted VC funding and
hit the headlines offering low cost and even free international
mobile calling often combined with new mobile applications
including IM chat, buddy lists, pre-roll voice and SMS
advertising, and social networking.
Business strategies differ widely and the claimed growing numbers of users range from tens and hundreds of thousands to millions around the globe. Once you get beyond the headline benefits and marketing claims you realise there are important business, market and product issues that don't come out unless you take the time to dig deep.
The new services also use a range of
fundamentally different technical solutions including
WiFi, 3G data, call-back, call-through, intermediate
local numbers, mobile web, and SIM cards, implemented
in different ways, and each with its own distinct advantages
and disadvantages. It is a lot of hard work to find
out what is really on offer, what it can really deliver,
and to make comparisons.
The mobile industry in general overwhelms
most users with voluminous and complicated tariff information
but the study provides a user-friendly set of tariff
comparison tables that expose the strengths and weaknesses
of different kinds of services and shows some surprising
competitive comparisons.
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