Bangalore: Almost simultaneous announcements in recent days, by Yahoo and Microsoft, hold out the hope that PC and laptop users will soon be able to use the cheap Internet-based telephony technology to call — not just another PC but — a landline or mobile phone, any where in the world.

Yahoo, through its Yahoo!Messenger, and Microsoft, through MSN Messenger, have launched trial or `beta' versions of new services where desktop and portable PC users can initiate what are known as `Net2Phone' calls — that is voice calls via the Internet, to traditional fixed telephones as well as mobile phones. Yahoo has announced these services in many countries, including France, Spain and Scandinavia, and in Asia: Singapore and Hong Kong.

Microsoft-MCI tie-up

Microsoft has joined hands with telecom provider MCI — best known in India for its co-branded `phone cards' sold by Airtel — to launch the trial in the U.S., but has promised to extend it to the rest of the world.

Both these initiatives follow in the footsteps of the pioneer in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services: the Luxembourg-based Skype, whose free PC-to-PC voice and video phone services are subsidised by its highly lucrative paid PC-to-Phone services known as Skypeout. All three services are priced at the equivalent of around 2 cents (that's around Re. 1) a minute for cross-continental calls, though rates will vary slightly depending on the deals negotiated with national telecom providers. The huge market that India represents will inevitably see such Net-based services brought to customers here.

Call costs may fall further

There are no legal hurdles: VoIP calls for international dialling was legalised by the Union Government in 2002. The year 2006 should, therefore, see Indian customers getting a further reduction in what it costs to call loved ones abroad on their normal phones. All you need at this end is a PC with an Internet connection. Also, likely to appear on the Indian consumer market are a new breed of combined landline and Internet phone handsets, which will obviate the necessity of using a PC.

The combo device usually includes a small screen and can be connected to the Internet through a dial-up telephone line. The user can smoothly switch from a normal landline phone for local and national trunk dialling calls to the cheap Net2Phone mode for international calls. Networking product companies such as Cisco and D-Link are already offering such phones in India though their market has hitherto been limited to corporate networks.

Competitively priced Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese makes have been showcased at IT shows in the Indian metros in recent weeks.

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