Vonage recently rolled out an unlimited international calling plan that allows Apple iPhone and RIM BlackBerry phone owners to make calls while outside of the country.
The new $24.99 per month service is designed to compete with a similar offering from Skype – available in 40 nations for $12.95 per month – but the Vonage service supports calling from 60 nations.
"Vonage World Mobile is a natural extension of the popular Vonage World home-based calling plan," said Marc Lefar, Vonage CEO, in a press statement. "This is another example of how we will continue to create opportunities to extend our home-based services and exceptional value onto mobile. As mobile devices (phones, PCs, netbooks) become more powerful, broadband networks become more available and 3G/4G data networks become more open, we envision a future where Vonage delivers calls, readable voicemail, texts, MMS and video calls from any device, using any broadband connection."
Business people and travelers who frequently leave the country have a difficult time finding support to make phone calls. Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint-Nextel, and T-Mobile do offer international calling plans, but the cost often outweighs the value of the service. Vonage World Mobile lets users continue using their regular mobile phone, but also helps them avoid more expensive roaming charges.
It wasn't long ago AT&T banned VoIP programs from being used through the iPhone, but consumer outrage – and possible further government involvement in the wireless industry – forced the company to change its stance. I don't use VoIP programs when on the PC, but it'd be nice to use the Skype or Vonage service when I travel to Japan and other parts of Asia during business trips.
VoIP-based services on mobile phones are expected to be popular in the future, with the Google Nexus One smartphone expected to ship with native support for VoIP rather than a traditional data network. The Google Nexus One smartphone is expected to be released sometime in 2010.
