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Google's Offer of Free Phone Calls Over the Internet

Posted on: Thursday, 25 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

GOOGLE is often the first point of call when seeking out information on the Web.

But soon the search engine could be better known for offering free Internet phone calls anywhere in the world.

And in a move that could transform the telecoms industry, analysts believe it is also working on offering free calls from computers to landline and mobile phones.

Google Talk, launched yesterday, allows users to talk to one another and send instant messages over the Internet.

AoL, MSN, Yahoo! and other companies offer similar services, but Google hopes to be the first to create an 'open' network, allowing its software to be incorporated into other systems so that users can communicate with friends on rival services.

Danny Sullivan, editor of the website Search Engine Watch, said calls to mobile phones and landlines could be the logical next step.

He added: 'You don't pay for calls when they come in to you, so if Google owned its own setup to place calls, it's possible it could offer such a service free.

'Typically, they have given away products and figured out how to pay for it down the line. They could possibly underwrite the costs with advertising. It makes sense for Google to come up with additional ways to attract users and keep them on the Google website longer.' Google has enjoyed phenomenal success since it was set up seven years ago by U.S. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

In the past year, it has branched out into email, online maps and personalised news.

At first, Google Talk will be available only to those who have downloaded the software.

To use Google Talk, all you need is a computer with Windows 2000, XP or Server 2003, a microphone and speaker and an Internet connection. You also need to open a free Gmail email account. To do so, you must be invited by a current account holder.

Alternatively, you can enter your mobile phone number on the Gmail website and the firm will send you a text message with an invitation code.

Once you have Gmail, you can download Google Talk for free.

You will then be asked to draw up a list of contact names and email addresses.

If a friend does not already have Gmail account, he will be invited to open one.

To call someone, simply click on one of the names on the list.

If the person is online, they will hear a ringing sound, like a telephone.

They must then click on an icon to accept the call. You can then chat for as long as you wish free of charge.

Speech is sent in small 'data packets' over the Internet, bypassing the phone network.

A 56k dialup connection will work, but a broadband connection is recommended.

Wendy McMillan-Turner, general manager of BT's consumer division, denied that the Google service would affect its business.

'I don't think this is a real threat to the landline per se,' she said.

'It's very much about calling from a computer to a computer rather than to a specific number.' She said mobile phone operators could find a way around the system by charging a ' termination fee' for the incoming calls.

Under current rules, mobile phone companies are allowed to charge a 'termination fee' of around 6p per minute for receiving a call from a landline or rival network.

This charge is paid by the person making the call and comes on top of the charges made by their own network.

It is likely that the operators would extend this charge to calls made over the Internet, but this may change as more mobiles become Internet-enabled.

There are now more mobile phones in Britain than people.

According to Ofcom, the number of fixed-line connections in the UK fell from 34.9million in 2000 to 33.7million in 2004.

Source: Daily Mail; London (UK)

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